DAVID NELSON CAMP 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A 
LONG AND ACTIVE LIFE 




Class Jj^/t2.j 
BookJ.,^-5_iX- 



Extra copies of this book have been 
printed and will be presented to any 
who would value them. Request should 
be sent to D. C. Rogers, 319 Elm Street, 
Northampton, Mass., or P. K. Rogers, 
21 Camp Street, New Britain, Conn. 





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DAVID NELSON CAMP 

RECOLLECTIONS OF A 
LONG AND ACTIVE LIFE 



THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES OF 
DAVID NELSON CAMP 



EDITED BY HIS GRANDCHILDREN 



NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT 
1917 



Lf\z3/7 

•025" /?3 



THE RXIMFORD PRESS 
CONCORD, N. H. 

D. of D. 

(AN 1 5 ' ' 




PREFACE 

Mr. Camp was already a very old man when he began 
to put together on paper the reminiscences which are col- 
lected in this little volume. His strength failed before 
his undertaking was completed. Of some portions of his 
life there are parallel accounts in his manuscript. Some 
prominent topics are left quite unmentioned. 

In the preparation of these memoirs for publication 
brief statements on the subjects which are omitted from 
his own account have been inserted in bracketed para- 
graphs. It is the desire of his grandchildren to add here 
a brief mention of some of the distinctive impressions 
which his life has made on them. 

As small children they found him warm-hearted, gener- 
ous to their faults, interested in their thoughts and wishes, 
skillful at tempting them into interest in serious pursuits, 
courteous to every one including themselves, an unfailing 
example of industry and sagacity and of religious devo- 
tion and reverence. In later years they found the same 
characteristics continued. It was typical that each time 
as they returned for college vacations he would question 
them as if they were his equals and as if the details of 
their affairs were matters of large importance. 

Having received the beginnings of his education and 
religious training with a much earlier generation, he had 
kept through his life the habits of reading and of obser- 
vation of people which are indicated in his own account 
of his youth. The result was an unusual progressiveness 
of spirit, openmindedness for new points of view, and 
generosity for the opinions of those who differed from him. 
In him these traits proved to be thoroughly consistent 
with clear convictions and ideals, and with unswerving 
loyalty to them. Paragraphs from Mr. Camp's own pen, 
in the pages that follow, give evidence of a deep religious 
experience. It is for us to record the fact that long years 
of active living realized the religion of aspiration with 
singular completeness. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Parents and Early Life 1 

II Teaching in Public Schools 11 

III Visit to New York and Ohio 19 

IV Meriden and Teachers' Institutes 25 

V State Normal School 29 

VI Visit to Europe 48 

VII Annapolis — Bureau of Education — New 

Britain Seminary 58 

VIII Our Boarders 63 

IX Second Visit to Europe 65 

X Literary Work 70 

XI Financial and Civic Interests 73 

XII Religious Training and History 78 

XIII Later Years 91 



CHAPTER I 
PARENTS AND EARLY LIFE 

In compliance with the requests of my sisters and others, 
the following recollections of a long and busy life have been 
placed on paper. While the account necessarily includes 
much of personal history, much has been omitted. As 
the narrative is designed merely for the members of my 
own family and my nearest friends, I have not hesitated 
to include personal experiences which may have an interest 
for them, though they would not be expected to interest 
the general public. 

My life has been a varied one, partly because I have been 
affected by circumstances beyond my control, — a frail 
constitution, disease, disappointments, trials, lack of 
intimate friends in early life, — and partly through my 
own mistakes, but at all times and in all circumstances I 
have seen the leadings of a kind Providence, for which I 
have reason to be supremely grateful. 

My father was Elah Camp, son of Nathan Ozias Camp, 
and a descendant of Nicholas Camp of Nasing, Essex 
County, England. My mother was Orit Lee Camp, 
daughter of Eber Lee, of Guilford, Connecticut. On her 
mother's side, she was a descendant of Theophilus Eaton, 
the first governor of New Haven Colony. 

My grandfathers were both farmers, each living some 
two miles from church, post-office, stores, and principal 
places of business of his native town. The home of my 
grandfather Camp was in the South West District of 
Durham, Connecticut, and that of grandfather Lee in the 
north part of the Nutplains District of Guilford. The 
farms of both were diversified, consisting partly of land 
suitable for tillage and partly of hilly and stony land used 
only for pasturage or woodland. 

1 



2 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

My parents, thus, were both reared in farming com- 
munities, enjoying such privileges and subject to such 
privations and limitations as were connected with agricul- 
tural life in the latter part of the eighteenth and the first 
part of the nineteenth centuries. 

My grandfather Lee was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
War, and after his return from the war, opened a free 
evening school where the boys and young men of the 
vicinity could study arithmetic and geography, studies 
which at that time were not allowed in the public schools. 
My father was in the army for a time during the War of 
1812. Both had many interesting stories of events in 
the wars for their children and grandchildren. 

My parents received such education as the public 
schools of that time afforded, with a little help from short 
terms in private schools. Both were teachers in the 
public schools of Guilford, and my father taught in a 
public school in Durham. His principal occupation was 
farming and stock raising. His teams, which were mainly 
employed on the farm and in taking produce to market, 
were sometimes engaged in transporting the goods of 
others. 

I was born at Durham, October third, 1820. The home 
of my parents and my own home for the first eighteen 
years of my life was in the South West School District of 
Durham. 

This district included a cluster of about twenty-five 
homesteads, chiefly farmhouses with farms adjoining 
them, situated in the extreme southwest corner of the 
town, and extending for more than a mile and a half on the 
New Haven Turnpike and nearly as far on an old road 
partly parallel to the turnpike. The hamlet was separated 
from the center or business portion of the place by more 
than a mile of vacant land, some of it swampy, on which 
was no building of any kind. 

Most of the proprietors were farmers with small hold- 



PARENTS AND EARLY LIFE 3 

ings. Hay, grain, and apples were the principal products. 
On some of the farms were a few cattle, horses, and sheep. 
In this hamlet there dwelt two or three carpenters, two 
shoe-makers, and a blacksmith. The produce of the 
farms not used by the families was exchanged at the stores 
two miles distant for groceries and other goods, or sold to 
workmen in the shoe shops, or marketed at New Haven 
and Middletown. Nearly all the houses were occupied 
by the persons who owned them, or by those employed in 
service by the owners. 

My father's farm was the largest in this hamlet and he 
■employed the greatest number of "hired help." Adjoin- 
ing the farm was a mountain lot from which wood was 
obtained and on which his flocks were pastured in suminer. 
He also owned in Great Swamp more than a mile from 
home a meadow lot where the young cattle were pastured 
in the spring and from which several tons of hay were 
obtained in the summer. 

It has been my fortune to see many changes in society 
and in manners and habits. In my childhood there were 
no railways, telegraphs, telephones, or electric lights. 
The public travel was by stage-coach, steamboat, or canal- 
boat. Houses were lighted with tallow candles, and 
a few rooms were warmed by wood fires in open fire-places, 
but usually the chambers and many of the lower rooms 
had no artificial heat, having to depend on the sun's 
rays for whatever heat was obtained. 

In farmers' families the meat supply for the year con- 
sisted chiefly of beef and pork salted down in barrels in the 
autumn, with perhaps a few hams cured at home and 
sausages made at home. The killing of hogs or cattle 
on the larger farms in the autumn or early winter provided 
fresh meat for the neighborhood for a few weeks, and in 
most families the occasional killing of a fowl varied the 
meat supply at all seasons of the year. 

Bread and cakes made from rye and buckwheat raised 



4 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

on the farm, with corn-meal cooked in a variety of ways,, 
constituted the principal articles of cereal food. A few 
pounds of wheat flour bought for some special occasion 
varied the diet. 

The clothing was chiefly made in the family, and in 
my early home, largely from wool sheared from my father's 
flock or from flax raised on the farm. In winter, boys 
wore woolen caps made by their mothers, and in summer, 
hats braided from the straw from which the grain had been 
threshed. 

The household work in our home was generally done 
by my mother, or if help was employed in the family it was 
usually some American girl. 

There were few books in my early home, except the 
Bible, Scott's Commentaries, a few hymn or psalm books, 
a few religious books, and a few old school books. A 
weekly newspaper was received part of the time. Postage 
on letters depended on distance carried as well as on 
weight. 

In the hamlet was a one-room schoolhouse located on the 
highway. There was a similar school in the Union Dis- 
trict a mile distant. Both of the district schoolhouses in 
which the first eight years of my school life were passed 
were one-room buildings with long writing desks against 
the walls on two sides of the room. In front of these 
desks were long benches made of plank or slabs. When 
writing or using slates and pencils, the pupils turned 
around with backs to the room and feet under the desks. 
Near the center of the room were lower narrow benches 
without backs for the younger pupils. A small box- 
stove for wood supplied warmth for the room. The 
writing was with pens made of goose-quills, in homemade 
books formed by folding sheets of foolscap and placing 
them in brown paper covers. 

The principal thoroughfare in Durham was a turnpike 
extending from New Haven to Middletown through 



PARENTS AND EARLY LIFE 5 

Durham and past my parents' and my own home. Stage- 
coaches and other vehicles were seen passing on this road 
with frequency. There were toll-gates in Northford and 
Durham. 

Besides agriculture and the breeding and raising of live 
stock, the principal business in Durham for twenty or 
thirty years after the War of 1812, was the manufacture of 
shoes. The leather and other materials were brought from 
New Haven or Middletown by ox or horse teams, and 
the finished products were transported to these ports for 
shipment in the same way. The distance of the shops 
from Middletown was about six miles, and from New 
Haven three times as far, but the greater part of the 
traffic was with New Haven. My father's teams were 
employed a part of the year in this transportation and 
in taking the products of his own and other farms to 
market. 

One winter when the harbor of New Haven was frozen, 
and ships could not come to the wharves, there was a 
scarcity of sugar in the city. My father, learning that 
there was an abundant supply at Middletown, bought 
several loads in hogsheads and barrels, and had it carted 
by teams to New Haven, selling it at a good profit. The 
gun barrels for the firearms manufactured at Whitney- 
ville, Connecticut, were formed at Higganum, and trans- 
ported from that place through Durham to the factory at 
Whitneyville where the guns were finished. My father's 
teams were used in this transfer. 

At some seasons of the year considerable freight passed 
between Hartford, Middletown, and New Haven over the 
turnpike. Mail stages passed over the road every day, — 
sometimes as many as four or six four-horse stages might 
be seen in a line, all going in the same direction and all 
filled with passengers. A home on such a thoroughfare 
though far removed from the excitements of city life was 
by no means a lonely place. 



6 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

My mother taught me to read, and I was sent to the 
district school quite young. At first I attended the 
school a quarter of a mile from our home for four months 
in the year, but when eight years old I also attended 
the same school when open in the Union District, more 
than a mile away, for another four months. The latter 
school was reached by a lonesome route which for most 
of the way was by a footpath across the fields. 

The teachers in the public schools seldom remained 
more than one term, the schools being taught by a man 
in the winter and by a woman in the summer, a change 
being made each spring and autumn. There were few 
classes in the public schools except in reading and spelling 
and sometimes in grammar. In arithmetic, geography, 
and some of the sciences, each pupil studied by himself, 
and recited when the teacher could find time to hear a 
lesson. The winter schools would sometimes have as many 
as seventy or eighty pupils of different ages from four 
years to eighteen. There was of course very little of 
thorough teaching. 

At about twelve years of age I was sent to a small 
private school taught by Mrs. Goodwin, widow of Dr. 
Goodwin, and by her niece. Miss Urania Stone. These 
teachers were cultivated women, thoroughly educated, 
and their influence over their pupils was great and highly 
beneficial. 

After a few terms in this school I was transferred to the 
Academy, the sessions being held sometimes in the 
Academy building on Durham Green, and part of the 
time in a building on Durham Street. The former place 
was two and a half miles, and the latter three miles from 
my home. The teachers were Benjamin Coe and Gaylord 
Newton. 

The vacations and a portion of the summer months 
were passed in labor on the farm, — tending the sheep on 
the mountain lot, driving young cattle to the swamp 



PARENTS AND EARLY LIFE 7 

meadow and watching them there, or assisting in cultivat- 
ing the fields or in gathering the crops. 

While attending school I was accustomed to give 
several hours daily, both before and after school, to the 
care of the stock or to other work on the farm. I was 
expected to rise at four o'clock, or half-past four, both 
winter and summer. In winter the feeding of horses, 
cattle, and sheep had to be done before breakfast, and 
in summer, work in the garden, grinding scythes for the 
mowers, driving the cows to pasture, and other farm work, 
all had to be performed before I started on my walk of 
two and a half or three miles to school. 

As my mother's parents resided in Guilford, we often 
went there on visits to her father's home. The numerous 
incidents which her father recalled from the Revolutionary 
War were very interesting to me. He was at Greenwich, 
Connecticut, at the time of the British attack, and though 
he did not see Putnam's escape, he was at the place a few 
hours afterward, and he saw distinctly the impress left 
by the feet of Putnam's horse, as he rode down a steep 
bank, — not down stone steps as represented in the school 
books. 

The route to Guilford was usually through "the farms," 
a series of pastures and wood lots separated by fences 
with gates at the road crossings. We would sometimes see 
foxes, squirrels, rabbits, or partridges as we drove by the 
woods. The road passed Quonepaug Lake where we 
frequently stopped to fish. A little distance from my 
grandfather's farm was a large lot in which were large 
quantities of huckleberry bushes with plenty of berries 
at the proper season, and my sisters and I picked many 
baskets full in berry time. 

I attended school for several weeks in Guilford, in the 
Clapboard Hill District, with a pleasant teacher, and in 
the Nutplains District, with one who seemed to me to 
be ill-natured. We often visited with cousins at the 



8 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

Bishops' and Dudleys', three miles from my grandfather's 
home. 

My father believed in teaching his children self-reliance 
early, and in placing upon them responsibilities which 
would tend to develop that trait of character. Perhaps 
because I was the eldest of the family, or because the next 
two children were girls, a large share of responsibility 
rested upon me, more than upon any of my sisters or 
brothers. This was the case not only in matters relating 
to the care of the stock, and the work on the farm, but in 
business transactions. Thus before I was fifteen years 
of age I was entrusted with buying horses, cattle, and 
sheep, and was frequently sent to market at New Haven 
and Middletown, with wood, meat, and other produce of 
the farm. 

Through such a trip made while I was a mere boy, my 
first knowledge of New Britain was obtained. I was sent 
from Durham to White Oak, in Plainville, on a business 
matter, and thus drove through New Britain village. I 
little thought then that my home would ever be in that 
place, or that it would ever become a flourishing manufac- 
turing city. My mother did not think that I was old 
enough to go far from home alone and among strangers, 
and many anxious hours she had while I was away. 

On one occasion, I was sent from Durham to Westbrook 
for a load of shad. An uncle, my father's brother, had an 
interest in the fishing company and provided a place for 
my horse and gave me a bunk in a fish-house with the 
fishermen. I enjoyed my stay, also the special dishes of 
the place, which were fish taken fresh from the water, 
nailed to a plank, and broiled before an open fire, and 
chowder such as is found nowhere but in a fishing station. 
The weather was unfavorable for catching fish, and I 
was detained several days before I could get the quantity 
wanted. My mother became so anxious about me that 



PARENTS AND EARLY LIFE 9 

she had a messenger sent to find me. He met me on my 
way back some distance from home. 

I intended to have a college course, and my purpose was 
encouraged by my mother who gladly did all that she 
could to further my plans for a liberal education; but 
the income from a farm, much of which was rough and 
stony, was barely sufficient to furnish comfortable support 
for a growing family, and I could expect little help from 
my father. During the years from 1836 to 1838 I was a 
part of the time in the Academy taking some special 
studies, and part of the time at home. My health was 
not good. A part of the time I was at work on the farm. 
Sometimes I took business trips for my father to Middle- 
town, New Haven, and elsewhere. Finally my father 
had a severe and protracted illness, and my continuous 
presence at home in the care of his business and of the 
family became for a time necessary. I studied some, 
read more, and became especially interested in the revival 
of educational enthusiasm which occurred in these years. 
However occupied, I still held to my purpose to go to 
college. 

While I was still engaged in studies preparatory for 
college, a serious illness occurred which weakened my 
constitution, left me nearly blind, and necessitated a 
change in my plans of life. All books and papers were 
forbidden, and I was kept in a darkened room for what 
seemed to me a long time. When able to bear the light, I 
found employment on the farm and in driving to New 
Haven, Middletown, and elsewhere on business. As soon 
as possible I resumed my studies, taking Latin, book- 
keeping, surveying, and higher mathematics, in prepara- 
tion for a business life. I had at different times taken the 
place of an absent teacher for a day, and had heard some 
recitations in the Academy. At the age of eighteen I was 
requested to teach the school at the center of North 



10 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

Guilford. My plans of life had been frustrated, and my 
studies had been interrupted. Two sisters and two 
brothers had become helpful in the family at home, so 
my services were not so much needed as before. My 
health was not yet fully restored and I seemed to be 
ready for some change. I knew nothing of the place or 
the school, but it seemed an opportunity for some good 
to others and perhaps to myself. I accepted the proposi- 
tion and became a teacher. 



CHAPTER II 
TEACHING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

The school was to commence the Monday after Thanks- 
giving, the examination to be on the previous Sunday 
evening. My father took me to the home of the clergy- 
man, the Rev. Mr. Whitemore, where were gathered the 
school visitors, consisting of the pastor, two deacons, a 
doctor, and a justice of the peace. The visitors, with the 
school text-books in their hands, proceeded to question 
me from them. The examination seemed to be satis- 
factory, and a certificate was given. I was to "board 
around." 

On going to the schoolhouse on Monday morning, I 
found a low unpainted building with one room and a small 
entry. On three sides of the room were desks against the 
wall, with long slab seats in front of them. When the 
pupils wrote they turned their feet over the benches and 
faced the wall. There were a few small benches in the 
middle of the room for the younger pupils. These 
benches had no backs, and were so high that the smaller 
children sitting on them could not put their feet on the 
floor when sitting upright. 

There was a small wood stove in the room, but no wood 
had been provided. It was a cold morning, so with some 
of the older boys I went to the neighboring woods and 
picked up fallen limbs sufficient to maintain fire for the 
day. Before night wood was supplied by the committee. 

At my boarding place my room was cold, and the only 
warm room was the living room where the cooking was 
done, the meals eaten, young children dressed and un- 
dressed, and the ordinary domestic work of a farmer's 
family performed. As I had taken no books with me 
except what were at the schoolhouse, I asked for a book 

11 



12 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

to occupy my time. The only one that could be found was 
an old edition of Murray's Grammar. 

I passed the three months of that winter in this farming 
town, boardiVig in many homes and gainjng some valuable 
lessons in the study of human nature. 

There was little excitement in this community, but the 
ordinary routine of a farming village had its interests. A 
debating society was organized, and some of the debates 
exhibited the results of careful reading and much general 
knowledge. As my school was in the center district of the 
society, the meetings were near and convenient to attend. 
I formed some pleasant acquaintances, became much 
interested in the work of teaching, and began to see its 
opportunities of usefulness. My sister Elizabeth taught 
the school the following summer. 

At the close of the term I returned home with thirty- 
nine dollars, the reward for three months' work in a dis- 
trict school. As I was under legal age the money was 
given to my father, and I was at work on the farm the 
following summer, giving my spare time to reading and 
study. 

Frustrated in my plans for a complete college course, 
and pleased with my success in teaching, I now determined 
to prepare myself for the business of a teacher. The State 
Board of Education had been organized in 1838, and Henry 
Barnard, who had been appointed Secretary, conceived 
the idea of having a temporary normal school in Hartford 
for a few weeks in the autumn of 1839, designed especially 
for the benefit of teachers of winter schools. My father 
was persuaded to allow me to attend, and he and my 
mother went to Hartford to establish me in a suitable 
boarding place. This was found in a family hotel at the 
corner of Main and Asylum Streets. 

The school, or institute, was held in connection with the 
Hartford Grammar School, and Mr. T. L. Wright, the 
principal of that school, and John D. Post, teacher of 



TEACHING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 13 

mathematics, were two of the instructors of the normal 
class. Among the other teachers and lecturers, were 
Charles Davies, Professor of Mathematics at West Point, 
Professor Barton of Andover, Massachusetts, Rev. Thomas 
H. Gallaudet, principal of the Asylum for Deaf Mutes, 
Mr. Snow, principal of the Center School, Hartford, 
Henry Barnard, and others. The instructions and 
lectures were all practical and very helpful. I formed at 
that time a personal acquaintance with some of these 
teachers and lecturers, especially with Professor Davies, 
Mr. Gallaudet, and Mr. Barnard, which, with some of 
them, was continued until the time of their death. 

The next winter I was invited to teach the upper de- 
partment and have oversight of the primary department 
for five months in a school in the Northwest District of 
Cromwell. There was a manufactory in the district, and 
the population consisted of farmers and factory owners and 
employees. The teacher was expected to board with 
all the families except a few that were quite poor and not 
in circumstances to entertain company. The rule was 
to remain with each family a number of days proportioned 
to the number of pupils enrolled from the family. Conse- 
quently, while the time with some families might be two 
weeks or more, with others, it would be only a few days. 
The habits of the people were so different, and the manner 
of living so varied, that there was a great opportunity to 
study social conditions. 

The farmers in the place were generally owners of good 
farms, and were living in comfortable homes, well pro- 
vided with the requisites of comfortable living. Their 
houses were warm and usually well furnished. The few 
factory owners were living in a little more of style, and 
had some luxuries not found in farmers' homes. In the 
houses of the operatives there was a great variety in 
furnishings and in style of living. The families with which 
I boarded were chiefly American with a few Scotch and 



14 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

French. There were some very interesting experiences 
during this winter. 

The time for calling at each place was intended to be 
that most agreeable to the householder. From one family 
word came by one of the children that her mother did not 
wish the teacher to come to her house until after her 
father had killed the hogs. From another the message 
was that the teacher would please not come until the new 
carpet was put down. With one family the table equip- 
ment was evidently to a considerable extent borrowed 
while the teacher boarded there, and at other places cer- 
tain articles of furniture were the result of temporary 
loans. 

At one house, the residence of a prosperous but eccentric 
farmer, I was met at the door by the head of the family 
with a shake of the hand and with these words, "I am glad 
to have you come to board with us, but shall be gladder 
when you leave !" As I had been informed of his peculiar- 
ities and habit of frightening teachers who came to board 
with him, my reply was, "The pleasure of parting may be 
mutual." I found him a genial, well-informed man, fond 
of reading and anecdotes. We had many pleasant even- 
ings together. He was a good mathematician, and had 
many curious and interesting problems to propose to the 
teacher. When the time for my leaving came he ex- 
pressed deep regret at parting. I, moreover, had gained 
much from him. 

Later in the season when the sleighing was good, I con- 
ceived the idea of driving home some twelve or fifteen 
miles. I learned that my late host had the best horse 
and sleigh in the place, but allowed no one to drive the 
horse but himself. I called upon him and asked him if I 
could hire his team to drive to Durham. His reply was 
that he allowed no one to drive the horse but himself. 
After some further conversation, but without gaining his 
consent to have the team go, I left him, telling him I would 
come for the team Friday after school. 



TEACHING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 15 

I went according to appointment, having a friend with 
me. The man was as curt as ever. I asked him about the 
team. His answer was, "I have told you that I let no 
one drive that horse but myself." I did not leave him, but 
followed him as he went to the barn, ostensibly to feed his 
stock. When the barn door was opened I saw the sleigh 
with blankets and buffalo robes apparently all ready for 
me. The horse, which appeared to have been recently 
groomed, was led out and watered. Soon a nice harness 
was put on. No one said anything about the use to which 
he was to be put, and I had no direct answer, but the horse 
was soon attached to the sleigh and taken to the street. 
I watched the proceeding with interest, and noticing no 
whip in the sleigh, I inquired if the owner did not take a 
whip with him. The answer was, "No whip goes with 
that horse." I was asked to take a seat in the sleigh, 
and did so with my friend. Then came a long line of in- 
structions as how to drive, turn out, blanket the horse, 
how to feed him, and many other directions, but closing 
with, "Don't let any one run by you." It was a beautiful 
evening. The moon was nearly full, the weather clear, 
and the air crisp and pure. The ride of some fifteen miles 
was much enjoyed. 

The school was composed of young people from twelve 
to twenty years of age and of both sexes, desiring lessons 
from the elementary branches to the higher mathematics, 
commercial book-keeping, and the natural sciences. One 
young sailor, just returned from a sea voyage where he had 
been mate of the ship, wished to study navigation. I 
found that my previous study of surveying, with some 
practice, enabled me to explain the science of navigation 
to the satisfaction of the student, and I hope to his benefit. 
There were also special classes in natural philos- 
ophy, chemistry, ancient and modern history, and other 
branches. 

The writing was with quill pens which the teacher was 



16 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

expected to keep in order. With seventy or more pupils, 
it necessitated the making or mending of nearly one 
hundred pens each twenty-four hours. This work was 
chiefly done at night by the light of a tallow candle. 

Thus the winter passed with some trials and much work, 
it included experiences to which I could look back with 
pleasure, but when an engagement was proposed for the 
following winter, it was respectfully declined. I returned 
home on the first of April with one hundred dollars, the 
wages for the five months, and gave the money to my 
father, as I was still a minor. 

I again went to work on the farm, devoting my evenings 
and leisure to reading and study. I became interested in 
history and metaphysics, and read all the books I could 
find on those subjects. As I believed I might engage in 
teaching again and was desirous of continuing my studies, 
my father was persuaded to let me go back to Hartford 
again and study with some of the teachers of the Hartford 
Grammar School. I was in the family of John D. Post, 
the teacher of mathematics, and when he removed to 
Meriden tb establish the Meriden Academy and Boarding 
School I went with him. 

My roommate in Hartford and afterwards in Meriden, 
was Nathan Chidsey, son of a former member of Congress 
and afterwards an attorney in New York. He believed 
that he could prepare his lessons in science or history 
better by studying aloud. For a while it seemed difficult 
to arrange our hours so that there should be no interfer- 
ence, but after some time I found that I could prepare 
lessons in mathematics or solve problems readily, while 
he in the same room was preparing his lessons in another 
subject orally. Then when the study hours were over, 
I not only had my lesson in mathematics prepared, but I 
also had the lesson my roommate had been studying aloud, 
and was capable of reciting it without having opened the 
text-book. 



TEACHING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 17 

While attending school in Meriden I had a letter from 
my father stating that an old friend and neighbor of ours 
who had removed to Branford had written him inquiring 
whether I would take a school in that town for the winter. 
I disliked to give up my studies, but after a little delay 
accepted the proposition, and for the next few years was 
engaged in teaching in the public schools of Branford and 
North Branford, at first winters only, but finally both 
winter and summer, with long vacations usually spent at 
home assisting with the farm work, or in travel. 

These were years of reading and reflection, with mail 
only once a week, and with much time at my command, 
since little special preparation was necessary for school 
work. Keeping lights at the schoolhouse, I went there 
mornings between four and five o'clock to study several 
hours before breakfast and school, and evenings I went back 
for more study. I was thus able to secure several hours 
of uninterrupted time for myself each week. Having free 
access to the library of Rev. John D. Baldwin, afterwards 
member of Congress from the Worcester District, Massa- 
chusetts, I read Paley's and Butler's works, and some 
history and poetry, and studied astronomy, German, and 
some other branches. 

During my minority the money I earned by teaching 
school or in other ways was given to my father, who pro- 
vided me with clothes and a small amount of spending 
money. On approaching my twenty-first birthday I felt 
the need of a better suit than I had. The season had been 
unfavorable for crops, and the returns from the farm, 
always small, had been less than usual. While my 
father would gladly have provided me with the best he 
could, I knew it would be difficult for him to furnish the 
money. Therefore I sheared from the flock of sheep 
sufiicient fleeces to furnish wool for the requisite cloth 
for the suit and to pay for the manufacture of the cloth. 
I then went to a mountain wood lot and cut wood suflScient 



18 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

to pay a skillful tailor for making the clothes. I carried 
the wool to the factory and in time brought back the cloth 
for the tailor, and I carted the wood myself from the wood 
lot to market. When my freedom suit was finished I 
took some pride in the fact that it w^as truly a home pro- 
duction, and largely the reward of personal effort. 

Ever since I had found that my plan for a full college 
course must be given up, I had pursued a course of reading 
and study as persistently as my health would permit. I 
had studied French and German with private teachers, 
and had read some works in both languages. My atten- 
tion had been principally on history and mental philosophy. 
I had purchased some books and these with access to a few 
good libraries had furnished me all the literature that I 
could read. Weakness of my eyesight had necessarily 
given me many hours for reflection. After I became 
permanently engaged in teaching I obtained a considerable 
number of good books and found them of great value. 

It was a time of special intellectual awakening in New 
England, and public lectures and lyceums and other as- 
sociations were being utilized in efforts for the improve- 
ment of schools and the diffusion of knowledge. While 
attending an educational meeting in Hartford over which 
Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet presided, I was requested by 
him to preside at one of the sessions. Thus I had my 
first experience in conducting a large public meeting. 



CHAPTER III 
VISIT TO NEW YORK AND OHIO 

In 1842 I made a trip to western New York and Ohio 
with my father. He had sold a part of his farm in Dur- 
ham and had serious thoughts of moving to one of the 
states of the Middle West. 

Leaving Durham on the morning of October fifth, I 
passed most of the day in New Haven, and about three 
o'clock in the afternoon took passage on the steamboat, 
Globe, for New Y^ork. Arriving in New York early in 
the morning of the sixth, I went to the residence of my 
uncle Ozias, and passed a couple of days with my cousin 
Alfred Henry and my sister Elizabeth who was visiting in 
New York. 

Leaving New Y'ork on the morning of the eighth, my 
sister and I went by steamboat to Stuyvesant Landing. 
Here we were met by our cousins George and Franklin 
Hinman, who took us to their home in Kinderhook. 
While at Kinderhook we went with my cousins to the 
residence of President Martin Van Buren, and I had an 
opportunity to attend the examinations and closing exer- 
cises of the Kinderhook Academy and to meet some very 
pleasant people. 

After a few days' visit with friends in Kinderhook and 
Valatie, my sister returned to New Y^ork, and I went on a 
steamer for Albany, finding my father and Uncle Erastus 
Lee on the steamer. We arrived at Albany about six 
o'clock in the evening and at seven took the train for 
Utica. After being detained there for some hours we left 
for Syracuse, arriving about six o'clock in the morning. 
This was the end of the railroad, and for the next stage 
of our journey we were obliged to take a canal-boat. A 
part of the time we were on a line boat which we found 

19 



20 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

crowded, slow, and uncomfortable. Afterwards we trav- 
eled by the packet boats which, as we found, were clean and 
well-furnished, had good food, were faster, more comfort- 
able, and very pleasant. 

We arrived at Brockport at about four o'clock on Sat- 
urday afternoon. Not finding any conveyance, we started 
for Clarkson on foot, but soon joined a farm wagon with- 
out springs in which we rode part of the way over a cordu- 
roy road. The country was flat, late rains had made the 
roads very muddy and the fields wet, and the whole 
scenery was unattractive. My father had thought of 
looking for a farm in western New York, but this ride of a 
few miles dissuaded him from inquiring in that vicinity. 
We arrived at Uncle Elan Lee's at Clarkson at about half- 
past seven Saturday night. We remained until early 
the following week. 

Thence we went by canal and railway to Niagara Falls 
where we passed most of the day, and then to Buffalo 
where we took a steamer for Cleveland. The night was 
very pleasant with a full moon, and at Uncle Erastus' 
suggestion we had a deck passage. During the night a 
violent storm arose, and my father and I were both sea- 
sick, so he paid the extra dollar for each of us, and we went 
into the cabin. The air was close and impure, and as the 
storm continued its violence, we left the steamboat at 
Erie. We passed the latter part of the night in a hotel, and 
in the morning proceeded by stage. We passed through 
Cleveland and arrived at Uncle Eli's home at Isvenzburg 
at about seven in the evening. 

We remained here a few days, looking at farms and mills. 
The morning after our arrival, in a walk of twenty min- 
utes in woods back of my uncle's home, I saw eight black 
squirrels and two gray ones. My father was pleased with 
the land and the country, and thought favorably of lo- 
cating in the vicinity, but did not purchase. We had in- 
tended to leave on Saturday morning for Atwater, where 



VISIT TO NEW YORK AND OHIO 21 

Father had friends, and where we proposed to pass the 
Sabbath, but the weather in the morning was very un- 
pleasant, and we did not leave until afternoon. 

Uncle Erastus remained at Uncle Eli's. Father and I 
started on our return journey at about six in the evening 
in a four-horse stage. We rode until about one o'clock 
in the morning, when we arrived at Edinburg. We then 
left the stage and slept at a hotel for the rest of the night. 
In the morning we walked eight miles over a very muddy 
road to church and called on father's friends at Atwater. 
My father was much opposed to traveling on Sunday. 

We returned to Edinburg in the evening, and slept in 
our rooms at the hotel until past midnight, when we were 
awakened to take the stage which arrived a little after one 
o'clock. The roads were bad, and there were many ob- 
structions, including large trees broken down by the storm 
which had to be cut away before the stage could pass, so 
our progress was slow. Finally at ten o'clock on Tuesday 
evening we arrived at Pittsburg. 

During the last part of our ride to Pittsburg we had as 
stage-companion a merchant who had been our companion 
on Saturday. He had been in such haste to reach Pitts- 
burg, that when my father and I left the stage soon after 
midnight on Sunday morning, he continued on his journey. 
He had been hindered, however, by various accidents and 
road obstructions, until he entered Pittsburg with us, 
while we had had twenty-four hours of Sunday rest. 

Before reaching Pittsburg we passed Economy, a 
German town with dwelling houses clustered near to- 
gether and with one large bakery and cooking house, 
society being organized on the communist principle. 

W^e left Pittsburg the next morning about eight o'clock 
by stage to cross the Alleghanies. For the first two stages 
the roads were good for country roads, the horses fair, and 
the drivers intelligent; but as we approached the moun- 
tains the roads were poor and frequently obstructed by 



22 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

fallen trees or rocks. The horses employed were untrained 
and the drivers ignorant and coarse in manners. The 
policy of the company running the stages seemed to be to 
put the best equipment and the best drivers on the por- 
tions of the road near the cities and large towns, and on the 
bad wild roads to use young and untrained horses with 
less skilled drivers. 

While the driver was changing horses in the mountains 
one morning, a boy, apparently about sixteen years of 
age, was watching the operation. 

"In what town do you live.f^" he was asked. 

" I do not live in any town," was his answer. 

"In what state do you live?" 

"I do not live in any state." 

Of other matters relating to society and civil affairs 
he was equally ignorant. When questioned regarding 
some bear tracks, however, which were observed in the 
snow by the road, he was all animation, and he gave an 
intelligent account of the habits of those animals. 

As we continued our journey day and night in the stage, 
we had no occasion to test the sleeping accommodations 
of the mountain taverns, but we had some singular ex- 
periences at the eating-houses where our meals were ob- 
tained. At one place the driver announced that we would 
stop twenty minutes for supper. The washing arrange- 
ments were outside of the house. When dust was re- 
moved from hands and face, the travelers went to the 
eating room, paying fifty cents each at the door for supper. 
The first course was soup, boiling hot. Before it was 
sufficiently cool to be eaten, the soup-dishes were removed. 
As the next course was being brought to the table the stage 
horn blew, and the cry, "All aboard," was given. Every- 
one made a scramble for the stage. One man took a whole 
chicken from the table and carried it to the stage. He had 
his supper. Most of the other passengers continued their 
journey as hungry as when they stopped. 



VISIT TO NEW YORK AND OHIO 23 

We left the stage at Harrisburg, and proceeded by rail- 
road to Philadelphia and thence to New York. We had 
been obliged to shorten our stay in Pittsburg, Phila- 
delphia, and some other places, because my father had a 
business appointment, and I was to begin school on the 
Monday following our reaching home. We arrived safely 
at New Haven on Saturday night about ten o'clock, and 
walked home, sixteen miles, in time for a little rest before 
we went to church on Sunday morning. 

My father was so well pleased with Ohio that he 
planned to make that his home as soon as he could close 
up his business in Connecticut. He had selected a loca- 
tion which pleased him, and the terms were satisfactory. 
But unexpected complications arose in his business at 
home, and before these were adjusted, the health of my 
grandfather, Eben Lee, who had become a member of the 
family, was such that it was not considered safe to remove 
him so far. My father then decided to look about this 
state for a place to live. At last he bought a farm of about 
one hundred and twenty-five acres situated in Meriden 
and owned by General Walter Booth, president of the 
Meriden bank. The farm had been rented for several 
years and was in poor condition, but it had a good orchard 
and soil capable of improvement. It extended from the 
turnpike, or Broad Street, to Colony Street, and was 
crossed by the Harbor Brook and another small stream, 
and by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railway. 
It had a large dwelling house which had sometimes been 
used as a tavern, and two barns, both needing repairs. 
The family removed from Durham to Meriden in 
1843. 

The latter place was then a straggling village, with a 
bank, a tavern, three churches, and a post-office, all on the 
turnpike, or Broad Street. Two railway trains, usually 
with but one passenger car each, passed between Hart- 
ford and New Haven each day. The locality about the 



24 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

railway station known as "the Corner" had a small store, 
a shoe-shop, and a few scattered houses. 

Soon after my father's family were established in 
Meriden, I was invited to teach the public school in the 
district in which the family lived, the Colony Street 
School. As soon as the term in North Branford closed 
and I could be released there, I made arrangements to 
teach in Meriden. 



CHAPTER IV 
MERIDEN AND TEACHERS' INSTITUTES 

The Colony Street School was about one-third of a mile 
from my home. The schoolhouse was an ordinary one- 
room building with entries. Soon after the school was 
opened, it was evident that the room was too small for the 
number of pupils who would attend. A school meeting 
voted a new building and left its erection to me. Plans 
were prepared. No builder in Meriden could build as 
soon as desired, so the plans were taken to New Haven, 
and a contract was made with builders in that cit5^ The 
frames, doors, windows, and casings were all prepared in 
New Haven. When the frame was erected in Meriden 
it was so much larger than the former schoolhouse that 
the neighbors inquired of me if we were building a church. 
The schoolhouse was completed and occupied within a 
few weeks after the contract for building was made, and 
the improved accommodations were very favorable for 
the winter school. 

I was married on June twenty-fifth, 1844, to Sarah 
Adaline Howd. 

We resided for some months in the family of my father. 
Preparations were made for building a house for us near 
my father's home. The stones for the foundation were 
found on the farm; the timbers were cut from a wood lot 
and hewn and framed on the ground. I drove the teams 
for hauling the timber and stone, and for bringing the 
brick from Westfield for chimneys. The boards for cover- 
ing the house were bought in New Haven. I painted 
them every day as they were put on, so when the sides 
of the house were covered with sheathing, it had the first 
coat of paint. The work was done in vacations and with 
it much other work. Most of my summer vacations were 

25 



26 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

occupied with reading and study and with work on the 
farm. 

A new school building was erected at "the Corner," 
or West Meriden, in 1846, and a private academy, called 
the Meriden Institute, opened in it by Henry D. Smith. 
I had an application to teach there, and as soon as I 
could complete arrangements for leaving the school on 
Colony Street, I joined Mr. Smith at his academy. The 
few years passed at this institution were years of real 
enjoyment. The school was all that could be desired 
in membership and studies. Classes of young men and 
young women, many of them from refined and cultivated 
homes, who were studying with an earnest purpose, some 
of them with a college course in prospect, made teaching 
a pleasure. 

I was living in my new home furnished simply, but to 
my taste and that of my wife. I had a small but carefully 
selected library, few cares, and much time for reading and 
study. Our parents, who were our nearest neighbors, were 
in health and in comfortable circumstances. Our eldest 
daughter, Ellen Rosamond, born in 1846, was our constant 
companion when at home. Her childish prattle, and our 
interest in her education and development, led us to give 
much time to her. 

The importance of improving the public schools by 
making provision for the better education of teachers was 
attracting the attention of the friends of education in 
different parts of the state. A few academies and large 
private schools established teachers' classes and teachers' 
departments for the benefit of young teachers. Rev. 
Thomas H. Gallaudet of Hartford, Professor Denison 
Olmstead of New Haven, and others, wrote articles for the 
daily papers urging the establishment of teachers' semi- 
naries by the State. 

In 1845, Hon. Seth P. Beers, Commissioner of the 
School Fund, was appointed Superintendent of Common 



MERIDEN AND TEACHERS' INSTITUTES 27 

Schools for the state. His salary as Commissioner of the 
School Fund was $1,250 and expenses. He had no ad- 
ditional salary as superintendent, and was not expected 
to devote much time to that office. But provision was 
made for holding two teachers' institutes a year in each 
county of the state. The superintendent had the selec- 
tion of teachers and lecturers for the institutes, and I was 
appointed one of the number. For some years thereafter 
I was occupied with conducting these institutes during 
several weeks of each spring and autumn. 

These teachers' institutes were similar in many respects 
to temporary normal schools. The attendants were usu- 
ally teachers of some experience. At the day sessions 
classes were formed in the usual common school studies, 
lessons were recited, methods of teaching the various 
branches and of developing the faculties of students were 
criticized and explained, questions asked by the members 
were answered by the leaders or lecturers, and for six 
hours each day the institute was something like a well 
taught school. The evenings were usually devoted to 
popular lectures on historical or educational topics. The 
institutes usually opened with a public lecture on Monday 
evening, and closed on Friday evening or Saturday noon. 
Two persons were appointed to conduct each institute and 
give lessons during the day. They were assisted at the 
evening sessions by special lecturers, so far as these could 
be obtained. Professors Brewer, Dana, Olmstead, and 
others of Yale, professors and presidents of Wesleyan and 
Trinity, Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D., Rev. Thomas 
Beecher, Rev. Merrill Richardson, and other clergymen, 
physicians, and lawyers were among the popular lecturers. 
At some of the institutes there would be two hundred or 
more teachers and prospective teachers in attendance. 

The members of the institutes were usually entertained 
by families in the places in which the institutes were held. 
Some clergymen, physicians, lawyers, and other educated 



28 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

men gave the meetings their presence and counsel, and 
often participated in discussions at the evening sessions. 
The famihes entertaining the teachers became interested 
in the work and members of these families were often 
present in the day time as well as in the evening. 

The influence of these institutes was soon seen in the 
improvement of public schools, and in the aroused public 
sentiment in favor of better qualified teachers. Partly 
as a result of this awakened interest, the establishment of 
the State Normal School was authorized by the Legislature 
in 1849. 

I was reappointed as one of the conductors of these in- 
stitutes each year as long as they were under the direction 
of the office then having them in charge. I universally 
found kindness and co-operation in the different towns 
and cities in which the institutes were held, and made 
acquaintances and formed friendships which have con- 
tinued for more than half a century. 

It was at an educational meeting held in Meriden in 
1847 that the State Teachers' Association was organized. 
Rev. Merrill Richardson, a lecturer on education, was ap- 
pointed president. I was made secretary and was sub- 
sequently retained in this position for some years. Upon 
invitation I organized and conducted teachers' institutes 
in New Hampshire and New Jersey, and assisted at in- 
stitutes in Massachusetts and in other states. 



CHAPTER V 
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 

The State Normal School was established in 1850. 
Hon. Henry Barnard, who was secretary of the Board of 
Commissioners of Common Schools in 1838-1842, and 
who had left the state to become commissioner in Rhode 
Island, was recalled and appointed State Superintendent 
of Common Schools and Principal of the Normal School. 
The teachers of the school were appointed by a board of 
trustees composed of one member from each county in the 
state. This board had the general management of the 
school affairs and finances in its hands. 

Before the school was opened, Mr. Barnard, and Mr. 
Stone who was to be associate principal, invited me to 
become one of the teachers. I at first declined as I had 
a good position at my home in Meriden with Henry D. 
Smith in the Meriden Institute. After some conferences 
with the ofiicers of the school and citizens of New Britain, 
I agreed that I would go when I could properly be relieved 
of my duties at the Institute. 

I visited New Britain in the spring of 1850 before the 
school was opened. My visit happened to be on the day 
following the reception to Elihu Burritt, given on his 
return from his first visit to Europe. The town hall in 
which the school was to be held was strewn with branches 
of evergreen trees, mottoes, and other remnants of the 
decorations used for the reception the night before, and 
was by no means an attractive place. 

The village — for New Britain was then a village of 
Berlin — had no special attractions. The streets were in 
poor condition, with dirt sidewalks where there were any. 

The First Congregational Church edifice at the corner 
of Main and East Main Streets, the South Church, a 

29 



30 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

small wooden building on the present site of the South 
Church, small Methodist, Baptist, and Episcopal churches, 
and the town hall, were the principal public buildings. 

A few small factory shops had been erected. There 
were a few small stores, a tavern kept in what was at first 
a dwelling-house, and a sawmill on East Main Street near 
the present Hartford Avenue. The railroad from Willi- 
mantic to Bristol was opened in 1850, the same year as 
the State Normal School. 

There had been opposition in the Legislature to the 
establishment of the Normal School, and, partly on ac- 
count of increased expense, there had been much opposi- 
tion in New Britain to the organization of the High School 
and the partial grading of the public schools. The school 
visitors had for ten years sought to secure some improve- 
ment in the public schools and the establishment of a 
school of higher grade, but had been unsuccessful. 

There had been eight school districts with an average 
of seventy-five children between the ages of four and 
sixteen years in each. Each had a small one-room build- 
ing, meagerly furnished, in which a few children were 
taught, usually by a young woman in the summer and a 
man in the winter, while the more intelligent families, 
when able, sent their children to private schools. Upon 
the establishment of the Normal School, three of these 
districts were united, and a High School was established 
for the more advanced pupils. The High School and all 
the schools of the consolidated district were placed under 
the charge of the principal of the Normal School as model 
or practice schools. For the first year following the open- 
ing of the Normal School, there were model schools for 
children lower than the High School located as follows: 
one at the corner of West Main and Washington Streets, 
one at the corner of East Main and Elm Streets, and one 
on South Main Street near the location of the present 
High School. 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 31 

I visited the Normal School after it was opened, and on 
entering the hall where the school was in session was 
announced as "Professor Camp, who will deliver a 
lecture." The subject was mentioned by Mr. Stone, the 
acting principal, but I have forgotten it. As no word 
had ever been spoken to me about a lecture or anything 
of the sort, and I was visiting the school as a stranger, I 
was taken by surprise, but afterwards learned that the 
school had already become accustomed to surprises. 

At that time the Normal School room was supplied with 
ordinary small breakfast tables and cheap wood seat 
chairs, four to each table, the students facing each other 
except at recitations. The first story of the same building, 
comprising a study room and a small anteroom used for 
recitations, was occupied by the High School. The build- 
ing had been erected as a town hall and was ill-adapted 
for a school building. 

The second or autumn session of the Normal School 
was to hold for six weeks and was designed to afford an 
opportunity for teachers of some experience to attend the 
school for a short time before beginning the winter schools. 

I closed my connection with the Meriden Institute in 
time to be at the Normal School at the beginning of the 
second session in August, 1850. My family remained in 
Meriden, and almost every week I went home on Satur- 
day and returned to New Britain on Sunday evening or 
Monday morning. 

Eight of the young ladies who had been members of 
my class in the Meriden Institute entered Mt. Holyoke 
Seminary in the autumn, and a few of the pupils in the 
Institute came to the Normal School. 

Rev. John A. Guion was principal of the High School, 
and had one lady assistant. Miss Rebecca Smith. In the 
Normal School, Rev. T. D. P. Stone, the associate prin- 
cipal, had general charge, while I had some classes and 
had charge of the students who went to the practice 



32 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

schools to observe or to teach. There were no other 
teachers in the Normal School at first. 

New Britain had just been incorporated as a town, with 
about three thousand inhabitants. There were few 
boarding places for normal students, and a large boarding 
house which had been erected for the benefit of a factory 
was appropriated to the Normal School. I boarded with 
some forty or more students at the boarding house. 

My sister, Sarah M. Camp, and my brother, Leverett L. 
Camp, were members of the Normal School the first year, 
my brother graduating with the class in 1851. He after- 
ward taught in large public schools as principal for nearly 
fifty years. My other brother, Alfred E. Camp, entered 
the Normal School in 1851 and graduated in 1853. Mr. 
Edward W. Robbins was teacher in the Normal School 
for a few months in 1851-1852. Nelson A. Moore and F. 
Julius taught drawing. These all boarded with me at the 
boarding house or in my home and were all helpful in the 
work of the school. 

I found many warm friends in New Britain and moved 
my family there, taking them at first to a small second- 
story tenement, but building a house as soon as practicable. 
In the new home in 1854 my daughter Emma Jane was 
born. 

Hon. George M. Landers, Major Seth J. North, Fred- 
erick T. Stanley, John Stanley, and a host of others were 
the true friends of the Normal School and contributed 
largely to its success during the early years of its existence. 
Their co-operation was a great help to me. 

Mr. Barnard believed it important that the teachers 
of the Normal School deliver lectures or conduct teachers' 
institutes during vacations. Accordingly at the close of 
the school in the spring of 1851, for the vacation of a week, 
I was notified that appointments had been made for me 
to lecture every day except Sunday. I was to begin at 
Andover on Monday afternoon, and then go to Columbia, 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 33 

Hebron, Colchester, and other towns in New London and 
Middlesex Counties, visiting two towns each day and in 
some cases three, giving a lecture in each, and closing with 
a lecture at Haddam on Saturday. I was able to fill every 
appointment on the east side of the Connecticut River, 
and spoke to a large audience on Friday evening, expecting 
to cross the river in the morning on the ice and give my 
last lecture. During the night, however, a violent rain 
storm broke up the ice, rendered the river impassable, and 
prevented my keeping the appointment at Haddam. 

During the first year of the history of the Normal School, 
one hundred and fifty-four students were enrolled in the 
different normal classes, and there were nearly four hun- 
dred children in the model schools. Additional teachers 
were consequently employed. 

Such was the demand for teachers in the state that one 
hundred and thirteen of the students engaged in teaching 
within a year, and only thirty-seven of the first year's 
students remained in the second year, though many of the 
others returned to the school after teaching a term or two. 
One hundred and forty-seven others entered the school 
the second year. 

The first class graduated from the Normal School had 
two young women and three young men, all of whom 
soon became teachers in the public schools of the state. 

Of the three hundred and thirty students who became 
members of the Normal School the first two years, one 
hundred and twenty-four, or more than one-third of the 
number, were young men. Several of these afterwards 
graduated from colleges or universities, one became presi- 
dent of a college, another was secretary of state, and 
others were afterwards teachers of high schools or graded 
schools. In the first three classes, which graduated in 
1851, 1852, and 1853, there were thirteen men and nine 
women. Men continued to attend in large numbers until 
the breaking out of the Civil War. 



34 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

An additional building for the schools, 76 feet by 48, 
four stories in height, with large class rooms for the Normal 
School, added rooms for the High School, and rooms in 
the basement for the intermediate and primary schools, 
was so far completed as to be opened and dedicated June 
fourth, 1851. The Governor and other state officers, the 
Legislature, and many invited guests were present, escorted 
to New Britain by military companies and a band of 
music. Addresses were made during the day and evening 
by Professor E. A. Andrews, Francis Gillette, Henry 
Barnard, and Rev. Horace Bushnell. The erection of 
this large annex to the Normal School afforded much 
needed accommodations for the Normal and High Schools 
and permitted the opening of an intermediate and a pri- 
mary room in the same building with them. 

The year following the opening of the new building was 
a busy year. The large increase in the numbers of stu- 
dents of the Normal School and of pupils in the model 
schools increased the necessity of giving much time to the 
supervision of the teaching of normal students in the 
schools of practice, while, at the same time, there was a 
demand for increasing the amount of attention given to 
the regular lessons of the Normal School. 

The difficulties were increased by the dissensions occur- 
ring between the associate principal of the Normal School 
and the principal of the High School. The unpleasantness 
had reached such a stage that in the latter part of the 
autumn session of 1852 they did not speak to each other 
either when they met in the street or in the school building, 
and their communications with each other about the 
school work were made entirely through a third person, 
even when both were in the same room. 

This condition of the school made it unpleasant for me, 
and my position was made the more difficult by the 
unexpected call of more than a dozen of the principal men 
of the town, who by concerted action, and led by the 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 35 

warden of the borough, came to my house one evening 
and announced that they had come uninvited to inform 
me that in their judgment the associate principal of the 
Normal School, and perhaps the principal of the High 
School, should vacate the positions which they held. I 
afterwards learned that a similar decision had been com- 
municated to the Trustees of the Normal School and to the 
School Committee, 

I had known something of the dissatisfaction in the 
community, and was well aware that the schools were 
suffering from the bad management, but I was unprepared 
for the decisive action recommended. My first impulse 
was to hand in my own resignation and retire from the 
approaching storm, but I was strongly urged not to do so, 
and it was intimated to me by the trustees that my resigna- 
tion would not be accepted. 

On the last day of the term, as the second class to 
graduate from the Normal School were receiving their 
diplomas, the resignation of Mr. Stone was presented to 
the trustees. That of Professor Guion followed very soon. 
The resignations were promptly accepted, and as the as- 
sistant in the High School had also left, both Normal and 
High Schools were without any teachers except myself. 
The unexpected resignations left both schools without 
heads and to some extent disorganized. Both of the 
retiring teachers opened private schools in New Britain, 
but they continued only a short time. 

I was asked if I would accept the position of associate 
or acting principal of the Normal School. I did not think 
it best, and declined. I felt it to be of great importance 
that an older person should occupy the place and that 
the force of the school should be strengthened as far as 
possible. 

After the erection of the annex, the High School room 
had been extended through the new building, providing 
seats and desks for more than two hundred and fifty pupils. 



36 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

As the lower departments were crowded, children had been 
advanced to the High School before their attainments 
justified the change. The result had been demoralizing 
to the High School, not only lowering the standard of 
attainment, but seriously affecting the discipline of the 
school. After it became known that the teachers were to 
leave, the school, which for weeks had been in a troubled 
condition, closed the term in a state of general disorder. 

Mr. Barnard, who as Superintendent of Common 
Schools was nominally principal of the Normal School, 
though seldom at the school, was very anxious for its 
success, and came to my house repeatedly to confer in 
relation to the interests of both the Normal School and 
the village schools. 

At that time there were few high or graded schools in 
the state. After visiting most of these, and also the 
normal and model schools of Massachusetts and New 
York, and conferring with teachers, I became fully con- 
vinced that a radical change in the High School was 
imperative. Permission was obtained from the trustees 
of the Normal School to make any changes in the school 
building which were deemed desirable. 

In the autumn vacation workmen were employed, and 
new partitions were placed in the High School building. 
The High School room made two rooms, each having seats 
and desks for one hundred and twenty pupils. There were 
four recitation rooms, two for each department, and 
requisite clothes rooms. 

Notices of the autumn teachers' institutes, which 
were required by law, one for each county, had already 
been issued by our Mr. Barnard, and for most of the fall 
it was my duty to attend these institutes and provide for 
the various lectures and other exercises. I was neces- 
sarily away from New Britain for several weeks at these 
meetings. 

As the gentlemen who had been at the head of the 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 37 

Normal and High Schools had severed their connection 
with these schools, they were not expected to take part 
at the institutes as before. Consequently other teachers 
must be provided. The professors of Yale College, other 
teachers, and some ministers, as Dr. Bushnell, Thomas 
Beecher, and others, rendered valuable assistance, espe- 
cially in the evening lectures. But this vacation was a 
wearisome one, the only time for rest, each week, being 
on Sunday, and on this day I had a large Bible class. 

As the time approached for the opening of the Normal 
and High Schools, it was realized that no teachers had 
been engaged for the vacant positions. It was believed 
by the School Committee that the commencement of the 
schools must be postponed. But Mr. Barnard and the 
trustees deemed it very important that the schools should 
all begin at the regular appointed time, the first Wednes- 
day in December. 

As principal for the Grammar School, which was in 
charge of the District Committee and was then being 
opened for the first time, a teacher of some experience, 
C. Goodwin Clark, had been engaged. Mr. Barnard 
requested that I go to Massachusetts, and elsewhere if 
necessary, and get the best teachers to be found, for the 
Normal and High Schools. I first went to Springfield, 
then to Worcester and other cities in Massachusetts. 
At last I went to Boston, conferred with the school author- 
ities, visited several schools, and finally came to Quincy 
School. I was pleased with the order and appearance 
of the school. I had some conversation with the principal, 
John D. Philbrick, whom I had never seen before, and 
learned that it was possible that he might be obtained 
for the Normal School. I referred the matter to the 
trustees and he was engaged, but he could not leave the 
school in Boston until the Christmas vacation. 

Mr. Barnard and the trustees were still desirous that the 
schools should all open at the appointed time. When the 



38 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

day arrived it was found that there was an increased num- 
ber of appHcations for the Normal School. The students 
were arriving by all the morning trains, they needed to 
be classified and seated, and some needed to be helped to 
boarding places. Though Mr, Stone and Professor Guion 
had both established private schools in New Britain, 
there appeared to be no diminution in the number of 
pupils attending the public schools. Some were children 
of parents who sympathized with the teachers who had 
retired, and these were not all ready to acquiesce in the 
new arrangements. 

Mrs. A. D. Gaylord had been appointed to assist in the 
High School and was present, but Mr. Clark had not 
arrived to take charge of the Grammar School. As soon 
as the Normal School was opened and properly started 
in its work, it was left in the charge of Miss Jane A. Bar- 
tholomew, who afterwards became a beloved and efficient 
teacher but was then an assistant student. I then went 
to the High School room, where only the advanced class 
of the old High School had been admitted, and had that 
organized. Going then to the room assigned for the new 
Grammar School, I found the room in complete disorder. 
Many of the pupils had been members of the old High 
School, and when they were hindered from entering the 
new High School room there was incipient rebellion. But 
papers had previously been prepared for their examination, 
and when the leaders of the uproar understood that admis- 
sion to the Grammar and High Schools would be on 
examination only, they quieted down and went to work 
on their papers. 

Mr. Clark arrived in time to be at the opening of school 
the next morning, and the New Britain Grammar School 
was fairly started. As there was no principal in either 
the Normal or High School for several weeks, I conducted 
the opening exercises of the Normal School at 8.45 A. M. 
and then went to the High School and conducted the 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 39 

exercises there at 9 o'clock. Students of the Normal 
School who had had some experience in teaching before 
coming to the Normal School were given classes both in 
the High School and Grammar School, and rendered 
important assistance during this winter of 1852-1853. 

The term was a difficult one for both teachers and 
pupils in all the schools. The teachers who had left had 
friends both in the schools and in the community. One 
of them had been pastor of one of the churches and had 
his personal friends, some of whom were unfriendly to the 
new arrangements for the public schools. The former 
opponents of the High School and of the Normal School 
took occasion to manifest anew their opposition. Some 
of the teachers were threatened with violence. The 
school building was believed by citizens to be in danger. 
Almost the entire responsibility of the building and the 
schools seemed to devolve on me. A person was engaged 
to remain in the school building nights as watchman, and 
I was accustomed to accompany a teacher who was 
threatened with violence to and from the school. 

But the situation soon awakened the interest and 
developed the loyalty of the friends of the school. Hon. 
George M. Landers, William A. Churchill, William H. 
Smith, the Norths, the Stanleys, and others, as well as 
the School Committee and School Visitors, rallied, and by 
many tokens of their loyalty demonstrated their friend- 
ship for the schools and the teachers. One gentleman 
said he could not teach, but would send his carriage to 
take me to and from the school. It was during the 
experience of this winter that, as tokens of interest, a 
silver pitcher and a gift of a hundred dollars to purchase 
books for my library were sent to me. 

Mr. Philbrick, who had been appointed associate 
principal, came to New Britain soon after the Christmas 
holidays, prepared to assume his duties in the school. 
After looking over the field, he thought best to give his 



40 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

time at first principally to the High School and the other 
schools of practice. He accordingly took charge of the 
High School, hearing lessons in that department, but 
having general supervision of the other practice schools 
in the building. 

Mr. Philbrick's long experience in the schools of Massa- 
chusetts, and his ripe scholarship and genial manner, 
enabled him to exert a highly beneficial influence on all 
the schools. He occasionally came into the Normal 
School to give a lecture, but during the remainder of the 
winter the teaching in that department was left to Miss 
Bartholomew and myself, except such as was given by 
special teachers once or twice a week in music and drawing. 

It was during these early years in the history of the 
Normal School that I became intimately acquainted with 
Henry Barnard and his delightful family. I had known 
him during his first educational work in Connecticut in 
1838-1842, but it was not until his return from Rhode 
Island in 1849 to accept the office of Superintendent of 
Common Schools in Connecticut that I knew him as a 
personal friend and counselor. During the early history of 
the Normal School we were often tog^her. I was fre- 
quently summoned to his office in Hartford for conference 
and ate at his table, while he as often took his meals with 
me when visiting the Normal School at New Britain. 
We often traveled together when holding teachers' insti- 
tutes, and sometimes occupied the same room at night. 
For some time his son, afterwards an eminent lawyer, 
recited to me. When at his death bed I visited Mr. 
Barnard at his home, he said to me, "We have worked 
together in the cause of education for nearly sixty years. " 

In the spring of 1853 Moses T. Brown was appointed 
principal of the High School, and Mr. Philbrick took his 
place in the Normal School, relieving me of much of the 
responsibility. I then had the superintendence of the 
Normal School students in the school of practice and gave 



STATE NORIVIAL SCHOOL 41 

instruction in mathematics, moral philosophy, and geog- 
raphy in the Normal School. I was employed nearly 
two months a year holding teachers' institutes. 

[In 1853 Mr. Camp received the degree of Master of 
Arts from Yale University.] 

On the first of January, 1855, Mr. Barnard resigned his 
offices, Mr. Philbrick was appointed in his place, and I was 
appointed associate principal. The school had largely 
increased in numbers, students coming from every county 
in the state. Mr. Philbrick now gave less time to teaching 
in the Normal School, and more to lecturing on education 
in different parts of the state. My duties were prin- 
cipally in the Normal School and in superintending the 
work of the Normal students in the practice schools. In 
vacations I still was occupied with teachers' institutes. 

In 1857 Mr. Philbrick resigned, and I was appointed 
State Superintendent of Common Schools and Principal 
of the Normal School. The increase of students at the 
Normal School seemed to require more of my time than 
had previously been given by those who held the oflSce. 
Accordingly, I continued to teach classes in the Normal 
School as well as to take charge of the institutes held in 
the different counties. 

I filled appointments to lecture in different parts of 
the state so far as time would permit. On one occasion 
an appointment had been made for a lecture to be given 
on a certain evening in New London. I went to New 
Haven in the morning to visit schools. Noting by a time- 
table on the wall of the station that the train I would take 
stopped at Fair Haven, I went to that place to attend to a 
school matter there. When the train came it passed the 
station without stopping, I was left behind, and no other 
train was scheduled to go to New London in time for the 
lecture. I had never missed an appointment except for 
an address in Haddam when the breaking up of the ice 
in the Connecticut River made it physically impossible 



42 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

for me to reach the place. I now went back to New Haven 
and to the railroad office, and inquired if it were not 
possible to send me to New London on a special engine. 
The reply was, "Not without orders from the superin- 
tendent. " 

"Where is the superintendent?" 

"On the road with the commissioners." 

He was found by telegraph and asked if a special train 
might be sent from New Haven to New London. After 
some inquiry and reply he gave his consent, providing 
the train could leave so as to reach New London in time 
for the regular train for New Haven to leave New London 
on time, this being a single-track road. Several employees 
had gathered around the office while the conversation took 
place, among whom was an engineer. He was asked if a 
car could be put through in time. Looking at his watch 
he replied that if the gentleman was willing to go to the 
train yard in a carriage it could be done, but he would not 
have time to bring a car to the railway station. We went 
to the street, and as no carriage was in sight, we jumped 
into the first vehicle we found, which happened to be an 
express wagon. On it we were quickly taken to the train 
yard a mile away. The engineer found an engine already 
fired up, and in a few minutes this was attached to a 
passenger car. I said to the engineer, "I do not wish you 
to expose your life or mine." His reply was, "Please 
get into that car and hold on." The road was not as 
direct then or as well graded as at present, and I found his 
advice timely. 

With the exception of a moment's stop to see if there 
were any hot-boxes, the ride was continuous and fast from 
New Haven to the Connecticut River. There was no 
railway bridge there at that time, and as no train was 
expected at that hour the steam ferry boat was not fired 
up. The officers of the railroad hailed a row boat, how- 
ever, and I was soon taken to the other side of the river. 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 43 

There I found a car with engine iattached ready to proceed, 
and I was soon taken to New London, reaching there in 
time for the evening lecture. My friend, Hon. Henry P. 
Haven, who had charge of the meeting, expressed himself 
as highly pleased and greatly relieved when he saw me, 
as he knew I did not arrive on the regular train, and a large 
audience had gathered for the meeting. 

There were many interesting occurrences connected 
with the institutes and lectures in different parts of the 
state. Mr. Barnard and I left Hartford one Monday 
afternoon to open a teachers' institute at Essex. There 
was no railway to the place at that time, and we went down 
the river on a steamboat. As the time came for supper, 
Mr. Barnard said there would be special preparations for 
our reception at Essex, and one of us must accept the 
invitation to supper there. It was finally arranged that 
Mr. Barnard should have supper on the boat and be 
ready to go to the hall on arrival, while I should accept 
the invitation to supper on shore. The boat had been 
delayed, and when we arrived we were cordially met at the 
wharf and taken to the hall in a carriage, where we found 
a large audience awaiting the opening of the institute. 
We each had a part in the organization and in the addresses 
of the evening. When we went to our rooms after ten 
o'clock Mr. Barnard remembered I had had no supper, 
and taking two delicious pears from his pocket which he 
had brought from his garden, he insisted that I should eat 
them. It was an illustration of his thoughtfulness for 
the welfare of his companions. 

While holding an institute in Wallingford, I had become 
so exhausted one day from the work of the morning and 
afternoon sessions that I retired soon after supper with a 
headache, hoping to obtain a little rest. I had been but a 
few minutes in bed when word came that the lecturer who 
had been engaged to give the evening lecture had failed to 
come and the church was full of people waiting for a 



44 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

lecture. I arose, dressed as quickly as possible, and went 
to the church and gave the lecture of the evening. 

Having an appointment for an institute in Lebanon, I 
went to Willimantic and after considerable delay suc- 
ceeded in finding a man and team to take me to Lebanon 
with maps, books, and apparatus, to be used at the insti- 
tute. I had been requested by the local committee to 
leave the equipment at the post-oflSce, from which place 
it would be taken to the place of meeting the next morning. 
It was quite dark when we arrived at Lebanon, and we 
stopped at a store which we supposed from the directions 
given us was the post-ofiice. During the night, the post- 
office, the store in which it was held, and the contents of 
both, were destroyed by fire. I found in the morning 
that we had made a mistake the night before and left my 
articles where they were still all safe. Had I not been 
delayed until it was quite dark, they would have been 
left in the post-office and probably would have been lost. 

Two years I was engaged for a week or two holding 
institutes in New Jersey. I found much enthusiasm there 
and was afterwards present at the dedication of the first 
Normal School of the state at Trenton. 

At the close of an institute one spring in New Hamp- 
shire, the members brought me the greatest amount of 
trailing arbutus that I ever saw at one time — more than 
a bushel. Most of it was brought back and distributed to 
lovers of flowers in New Britain. 

In the course of my work, both in the Normal School 
and around the state as superintendent of schools, I met 
with cordial co-operation and found many choice friends. 
Hon. Francis Gillette, President of the Board of Trustees 
of the Normal School, and other members of the board, 
were very cordial and faithful in their support of the school 
in its hours of trial. Governors Seymour, Dutton, Minor, 
Holley, Buckingham, and Hawley were all personal friends 
and ready to do all in their power to advance the interests 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 45 

of education in the state and country. I enjoyed the 
hospitality of some of them, especially Governors Minor, 
Holley, and Buckingham. I was at Governor Bucking- 
ham's house when the first communication between the 
United States and Great Britain was made by telegraph. 
Governor Buckingham said the event was worthy of 
recognition. The bells of Norwich were rung, and a public 
meeting was held with a crowded church. 

Professors Denison Olmsted, Benjamin Silliman, Dana, 
Brewer, and others of Yale University rendered me much 
assistance at institutes and educational meetings. Dr. 
Bushnell of Hartford, Dr. Gulliver of Norwich, Dr. Mun- 
ger of New Haven, and other clergymen were also very 
helpful, and some of them lectured for me several times. 

Rev. Thomas Beecher lectured at an institute at Thomp- 
sonville, and we were both entertained at the residence 
of a Scotchman, the superintendent of one of the mills. 
At that time Mr. Beecher was temporarily making his 
home with an uncle in Hartford. He told our Scotch 
hostess that he was lonely and did not know where he 
should sleep the next night. This so aroused her sym- 
pathy that she offered to give him an umbrella and to 
contribute in other ways to the comforts of a forlorn 
minister. 

After the first four years, appropriations had to be 
made annually by the Legislature for the support of the 
Normal School, and it was often the case that opposition 
to the appropriations would be made by members igno- 
rant of the work and needs of the school. Changes in the 
school laws and local questions also were raised and were 
referred to the Committee on Education, and I was 
frequently called before the committee to explain matters. 

By this work and the teaching in the Normal School, 
combined with my duties relating to schools in different 
parts of the state, my health became impaired and my 
physician advised my leaving home and going away for a 



46 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

time. The Normal School had closed. I consequently 
finished my work and left immediately for the West, going 
by way of the Great Lakes, but without any definite plan 
of destination. 

After a leisurely trip of ten days, with but one night's 
sleep in a bed on shore, I found myself at Houghton, then 
a new mining camp near the shores of Lake Superior. I 
had met on the Lake Superior steamer a clergyman from 
Detroit bound to Houghton, and he invited me to make 
that my destination. I arrived soon after noon and found 
the place full of excitement over the discovery of new 
copper mines. 

There were no finished roads, but winding rocky paths, 
over which necessary supplies were taken in dog-carts or 
on men's backs or by mules. I found a large building 
designed for a hotel partitioned off into rooms. I saw 
a man who appeared to have charge as landlord or clerk, 
and asked him if I could have a room. His reply was, 
"Yes, if you can find one not occupied." I soon found 
an unoccupied chamber with a comfortable looking bed, 
and by searching about the premises I collected the neces- 
sary articles of furniture to make it a suitable place to live 
in for a few days. There was no lock on the door, but 
after taking a long board and placing one end against the 
door and the other against the opposite wall, I felt secure 
and went to sleep. In the early morning I saw the floor 
of the dining-room covered with late guests who had 
arrived on the evening boat, and finding no vacant rooms 
had made the floor their resting place for the night. The 
next day was Sunday, and during the morning business in 
the mining camps seemed to proceed as usual, but in the 
afternoon there was some cessation of work and a religious 
service was held. On Monday I visited the copper mines 
with my clerical friend, and started for home rested in 
mind and body and with renewed health and vigor for 
work. 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 47 

The few years preceding the Civil War brought elements 
disturbing to the work of school improvement, and many 
educational projects were postponed or abandoned. 
When at last war broke out, a large proportion of the 
young men in the Normal School — in some cases whole 
classes — enlisted in the army. Others were called from 
the school for other duties. The number of students, both 
of young men and young women, was less during the 
early years of the war, and the number of young men was 
never afterwards as great as before. 



CHAPTER VI 
VISIT TO EUROPE 

Severe application and anxiety were seriously affecting 
my health, and Dr. Comings, our family physician, 
advised strongly that I be released entirely from all mental 
work and make a trip abroad. I resigned my position and 
as soon as practicable took steamer for Europe. A friend 
in New York had secured me a berth on a steamer of the 
Anchor Line which sailed from New York to Liverpool via 
Moville and the north of Ireland. 

My roommate was an intelligent English merchant from 
whom I obtained valuable information. In Liverpool he 
introduced me to an English Coffee House where I met 
many business men during my stay in Liverpool and 
learned something of their methods of business. 

While on week days each one at the hotel had his meals 
at his convenience and no ladies were admitted, on Sun- 
days there was a formal dinner when gentlemen could be 
accompanied by ladies. At this dinner a president and 
vice-president of the company were present, and had 
direction of the conversation, which was general but quite 
formal, the presiding officer being addressed when any one 
spoke. There were several students present from one of 
the English universities. It was just after the close of 
the Civil War in the United States, and the students and 
some others at the table took occasion to berate the North, 
charging its people and soldiers with being selfish, mer- 
cenary, and cruel. Some of their remarks represented the 
New England Yankee in a ludicrous light, and I had no 
doubt were spoken partly in jest, because they knew there 
was a Northerner at the table. I thought it best to take 
no notice of their ridicule and remained silent. 

The next morning the gentleman who presided at the 

48 



VISIT TO EUROPE 49 

dinner on Sunday, passing the desk where I was opening 
my mail, saw an envelope postmarked IT. S. He inquired 
if I was from the United States. When he learned that I 
was from Connecticut, he expressed deep regret for the 
remarks of the students at the dinner table, and said he 
would certainly have checked them had he known there 
was a person present from the northern part of our country. 
He then invited me to visit the Liverpool Exchange and 
other places not usually visited by Americans. 

While in Liverpool I heard the great organ, went to the 
free library, where I saw more than four hundred men in 
the reading room at the same time between twelve and one 
o'clock, and visited some of the more important business 
establishments. 

I then went to Birmingham. On the trip the occupants 
of the railway compartment were a clergyman and his wife 
from Brooklyn, an Englishman, and myself. The events 
of our Civil War were the subject of conversation. The 
clergyman, though a native of England, found fault with 
the course of the English in the matter of the war. He was 
so severe in condemnation of some of their men and their 
acts that I spoke in their defence. In time the clergyman 
left the car, and the Englishman, remaining, said, "How 
those Americans do berate us Englishmen!" — taking me 
to be one of his countrymen. 

At Birmingham I took a room at a hotel, planning to 
stop there until morning, and to call on my friend, Elihu 
Burritt, who was then American consul agent at that 
place. When I went to his ofl&ce, however, he insisted 
that I should go to his place at Harborne, about two miles 
distant. Mr. Burritt was living there in a pleasant Eng- 
lish cottage with his niece. Miss Strickland. I passed a 
few delightful days there, usually walking into the city 
with Mr. Burritt in the morning and visiting places of 
interest while he attended to the duties of his office. 

While my prime object in going to Europe was to seek 



50 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

health, I had also planned to visit schools, museums, and 
other educational institutions, as far as I was able. I 
had letters of introduction from Dr. Barnard to several 
prominent educators and was able to obtain much in- 
formation from them. Mr. Burritt, on learning that I 
intended visiting the educational institutions of England, 
proposed to give me a letter to the head-master of the 
King Edward VI School in Birmingham, at the same time 
saying he did not know whether I would be admitted. 
The large building and yard were surrounded by a high 
stone wall obstructing all view of transactions within. I 
presented myself to the doorkeeper. He courteously in- 
formed me that visitors were not admitted. I asked him 
if he could take my letter of introduction to the head- 
master. At first he demurred, but he finally consented to 
do so. He returned to say that the master was busy with 
a class but would like to see me at his classroom. He 
took me through the school-yard and a number of the 
rooms of the building, giving me an opportunity to see 
just what I desired — the arrangement of the rooms, seats, 
desks, and other equipment. My interview with the 
master was formal but pleasant, and I soon left reflecting 
that my visit had after all succeeded. 

My next stop was at Stratford, where I visited the 
Shakespeare house and garden, the church where the 
Shakespeare tablet is shown, and other places connected 
with his name, and walked over to Shottery in a path 
which led me through a field of grain and over an English 
stile, the first I had ever seen. The Hathaway cottage 
was found without difficulty. 

At Oxford, after looking through some of the colleges, I 
passed most of the time at the wonderful Bodleian Library. 
Arriving at London I found a very comfortable boarding 
place at a family hotel on King Street, where I remained 
for nearly a month. In London I visited King's College, 
the Blue Coat School, Borough Road School, and some 
others, and some of them several times. 



VISIT TO EUROPE 51 

King's College in its method of instruction, organization 
of classes, and general atmosphere seemed more demo- 
cratic and more similar to American colleges than to the 
colleges of the older universities which I visited. The 
Borough Road School had a good department for teachers, 
who were expected to reside at the school and to be under 
strict rules out of school hours. The Home and Colonial 
School, with its teachers' department and model schools, 
was evidently designed chiefly for the poorer classes, but 
had some good teachers. 

The boys of the Blue Coat School, as it was termed, 
might be seen about London in their blue coats with their 
small caps usually in their pockets. In several visits to 
this school I was quite impressed with the thoroughness of 
instruction and the strict regulations of the school. In 
one of the recitations some members of the class became so 
excited in their desire to answer questions that they stood 
on seats or on the desks, with hands extended, waiting for 
permission to give an answer. 

I had a letter to Dr. Frazer, afterwards Bishop of Man- 
chester, one of her Majesty's Commissioners of Education, 
and passed a few days with him, visiting the country 
schools of England in Reading and vicinity. Dr. Frazer 
informed me that there were four distinct classes whose 
children were educated separately, no two classes as- 
sociating together. There were first the titled aristocracy 
or nobles, second the esquires or large land owners, third 
the farmers or merchants, the employers of labor, and 
fourth the peasants or laborers. The schools which I 
visited with Dr. Frazer were chiefly for the two lower 
classes. 

In schoolhouses we would at one time see a room sup- 
plied with school furniture and occupied by scores of 
children and their teachers engaged with lessons, and a few 
hours later we would see the same room transformed into a 
living room in which the teacher and his family were tak- 



52 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

ing their evening meal. At this time manual training 
and industrial work were seen to a far greater extent than 
in this country. The girls were often busy with their 
sewing, and boys were being taught some handiwork. I 
saw whole classes of boys in London being taught shoe- 
making as one of the regular exercises of the school. 
Text-books were used much less than in this country. 

I much desired to visit Parliament, but when I applied 
to our minister for a permit I learned that the privileges 
which he could grant were all taken for more than two 
weeks ahead. As I expected to leave London for Paris 
before the expiration of that time I supposed that I should 
not gratify my desire. 

I had had business at the Education Office, and had 
become acquainted with Mr. Lingard, the secretary. On 
one of my calls he asked me if I would like to visit Parlia- 
ment, and on being told that I would, he said that he 
would arrange for me to do so. I soon had a letter at my 
hotel requesting me to call at the Education OflBce in the 
afternoon. When I called I was introduced to Lord Bruce, 
the head of the office, who asked me if I would like to see 
the "Bear Garden," as he called Parliament. After 
showing me about the different parts of the House of 
Parliament he took me to the House of Commons and 
pointed out Mr. Gladstone and other notables and then 
left me in the House of Lords saying he would call for 
me when there was special interest in the House of Com- 
mons. He said there was to be an interesting debate that 
night and that Mr. Gladstone would speak. 

After I had been an hour or more in the House of Lords, 
Mr. Bruce came for me in time to hear the debate, and in 
the course of it I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Glad- 
stone and other noted statesmen. I was afterwards 
taken into parts of the building which I could never have 
seen had I visited Parliament on ticket from the American. 
Minister. 



VISIT TO EUROPE 53 

The New Field Lane Ragged School Building was com- 
pleted and to be opened while I was in London. Lord 
Shaftsbury was to preside and there was much interest in 
the meeting. Mine host thought I would like to attend 
and said he would introduce me to an English gentleman 
of some influence. This gentleman said he would take 
me if I would follow his directions. He had but one 
ticket, and no others were to be had at any price. When 
we arrived at the building, we found a great crowd 
extending far down the street seeking admission. I had 
no expectation then of entering, but my English friend's 
schemes soon placed me within, where I heard an eloquent 
speech from Lord Shaftsbury and a poor one from an 
American clergyman. The next Sunday morning I went 
to the new building to see the Sunday School. More than 
four hundred young people were present to be taught. 

On Sundays I went frequently to Spurgeon's Tabernacle 
to hear Mr. Spurgeon preach. The large building was 
always crowded; at times there were more than eight 
hundred, mostly strangers, who were waiting for admission 
when the doors were opened. On one Sunday notice was 
given that Communion would take place immediately after 
the morning service. The invitation for strangers to join in 
the service was so broad that I thought it might include a 
Congregationalist. However, knowing that it was a 
Baptist church, I sought Mr. Spurgeon, told him my 
church relations, and asked him if it would be right for me 
to join in the service. He said, "Most certainly," gave 
me a seat with those to whom he passed the elements, and 
gave me the bread and wine as he did the others. 

I sometimes attended services at St. Paul's, West- 
minster Abbey, and at other Anglican and dissenting 
churches, and heard eloquent preaching, but in no in- 
stance preaching which received such marked attention or 
which seemed to produce such effect as that at the Taber- 
nacle. 



54 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

On my trip to Scotland I met a teacher from New York 
traveling with eight of her pupils. As we crossed Loch 
Katrine we found that nearly all the passengers on the 
steamer were Americans; the captain said he would stop 
running the boat if it were not for the Americans. I 
visited Rob Roy's Cave and many other places of interest 
with the New York party. At Glasgow I had opportunity 
to see some of the interests of the great ship building 
companies and at Edinburgh visited the places of historic 
interest. I was twice in Scotland during this trip and on 
one of my visits passed several days in the Highlands and 
went into some of the schools where the dialect of the 
Highlands was used. 

I had letters of introduction to Dr. Brodie who was at 
the head of an institution for feeble-minded youths and 
saw in him an example of entire devotion to his philan- 
thropic work. I also met at his institution one of the 
Hartford physicians. 

Crossing from Glasgow to Belfast, I found the people 
of northern Ireland different from those in the southern 
provinces and more like the English and Scotch in habits 
and culture. In Dublin I visited the large normal and 
model schools and found one of the finest institutions that 
I saw on my trip. The Normal Department was well 
equipped, and the large Model School was presided over 
by a young woman who moved like a queen among her 
classes, all of which were in perfect order. I was invited 
to breakfast the next morning with Sir McDonald, the 
head of Ireland's Educational Commission. From him I 
obtained much valuable information on education in 
Ireland. A storm on the Irish Sea made me quite sick on 
my return. 

My route to Paris was by Dieppe, taken partly because 
less expensive than by Calais, and partly because it would 
take me to some places which I wished to visit. The 
educational institutions in France were most of them not in 



VISIT TO EUROPE 55 

session when I was there, and I devoted much of my time 
to the picture galleries, museums, churches, and parks. 

After a few weeks passed in Paris and vicinity, I went to 
Lyons and then to Switzerland, passing most of my time at 
Geneva, Chamonix, Lausanne, and Berne. Many in- 
teresting incidents occurred on the trip. On the route 
by diligence from Geneva, tickets had to be bought be- 
forehand which specified what seat the holder would oc- 
cupy. When the diligence was about to start, two young 
men from the Southern United States had taken seats 
that belonged to others, one of whom was a colored man. 
When this person came and claimed his seat, the Southern 
gentlemen declared with oaths that they would never give 
up their seats to a "nigger." At last when they were 
about to be arrested by an officer, they left the diligence, 
the colored man got his seat, and the vehicle proceeded. 

At Chamonix I met Mr. Green, author of The English 
People and crossed the Mer de Glace with him and his 
son. I passed over the Tete Noir on horseback and 
stopped a few days at Lausanne. I passed the Sabbath 
at Berne, where, in the morning, I attended services at the 
Cathedral. In the afternoon I was passing the Cathedral 
again and saw that an election was going on. I was 
offered a ticket, which in appearance much resembled the 
tickets formerly used at elections in Connecticut. 

While in Switzerland I had word from Mr. Monroe, a 
friend in Paris, that a patriotic celebration was to be held 
there at which it was desired that as many Americans as 
practicable should be present. I just had time to stop at 
Strasburg to see its Cathedral and wonderful clock. While 
there I met a mechanic who was at work on the Cathedral. 
He said that he had lived with his family in a house built 
on the roof of the Cathedral for more than ten years and 
had worked on the Cathedral all that time. The celebra- 
tion in Paris was held in the Bois de Boulogne, and was 
attended by many Americans and Parisians, including 
members of the reigning family. 



56 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

A letter from Dr. Barnard came to me in Paris, in- 
quiring if I would return in time and would accept an 
appointment to St. John's College, Annapolis, the State 
College of Maryland. The contents of this letter led me 
to shorten my stay in Europe, but I made a second visit 
to Birmingham and Edinburgh. During this visit to 
Scotland, I was desirous of securing a place on a fast mail 
train which would be two or three hours quicker than the 
regular train. Arriving at the station, I asked the train 
starter if I could get a seat on the train which was soon due. 
His gruff answer was, "No, the cars are all full." I told 
him I wanted to go and slipped a shilling into his hand. 
He said in a surly manner, " Go and sit down on that seat, " 
pointing to a seat outside the station. The train came in, 
all was bustle about it, transferring cars and mail. It 
was night. Lanterns were moving about, orders were 
given in loud voices, and I little expected to get a place on 
the train. But just before it left, the starter came to me, 
caught my bag, and shouted, "Come here." He opened 
the door of a compartment, tossed my bag in, pushed me 
in after it, and locked the door. The train started in a few 
minutes, and I was the only occupant of the compartment 
for the night. 

When I arrived in Liverpool I found a letter from Mrs. 
Jane A. Bartholomew Porter expressing a wish to see me. 
I went to the office of the company whose ship her husband 
commanded. As I entered the door Captain Porter 
saw me, and jumping over the counter which stood be- 
tween us, caught my hand and said, "You must see Jane." 
I looked her up and passed most of the day with her at the 
house of a friend. 

Her husband had sailed from Boston to New Orleans 
and while at the latter place had received orders to proceed 
to Liverpool. His wife had joined him at New Orleans, 
expecting to go to Liverpool and return to Boston with 
the ship, but on their arrival at Liverpool, Captain Porter 



VISIT TO EUROPE 57 

had found orders to proceed with the ship to Calcutta. 
Mrs. Porter had become useful on board the ship, and she 
had decided that it was her duty to remain with her hus- 
band and the ship and proceed to Calcutta instead of 
returning to this country as had been planned. In con- 
versation she went over much of her school life at New 
Britain, inquired about many of the students, and gave 
me messages to many of her friends. 

A few days later she sailed with the ship for Calcutta. 
On the return voyage, while the ship was becalmed in the 
Bay of Bengal, she sickened and died. Her body was 
brought home and was laid in the burying ground with those 
of the family, at Granby. 

When I had procured my ticket for this visit to Europe, 
gold was at a premium of about twenty per cent. Not 
knowing how long I should remain in foreign countries or 
what might be my needs, I had procured a bill of exchange 
for more than twice the amount that I used, obtaining it 
through Brown Brothers of New York. During my 
absence there were heavy failures in this country and in 
Europe, and the premium on gold had advanced so that 
when the bankers settled my account and remitted to me 
the value of the unused part of the bill of exchange, I 
found to my surprise that the advance in the premium of 
gold had paid the cost of the voyage across the Atlantic. 

On my return to America I called on Dr. Barnard and 
soon made arrangements to go to Annapolis and assist in 
opening St. John's College over which he was to preside. 



CHAPTER VII 

ANNAPOLIS— BUREAU OF EDUCATION— NEW 
BRITAIN SEMINARY 

Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, is about an hour's 
distance by railroad from Baltimore and from Washington. 
It had a fine State House, a bank, half a dozen churches, 
and two printing offices. The United States Naval 
Academy, with spacious and attractive grounds, was 
located there on the banks of the Severn. The St. John's 
College campus consisted of several acres of rolling land 
with large shade trees, and was located on one of the 
principal streets. 

Most of the buildings were old, but there were two 
modern dormitories. The college had been closed during 
the war, the buildings being used as barracks for soldiers 
and storage places for the implements of war. A railway 
track had been laid across the ground during the Civil 
War to facilitate the transportation of war material from 
the Severn River to the railway depot. The railway track 
had been removed from the ground and the buildings 
partially renovated before I went to iVnnapolis. Much 
still remained to be done to get the college buildings in 
order and arrange for opening the college. 

On my arrival I found Professor Atherton, who was to be 
one of the teachers, already at work. In a few days Mr. 
Barnard arrived, and consultations were held in regard to 
the measures to be adopted on opening the college. As 
the college and the preparatory schools of the region had 
been closed for several years, there were few young men 
prepared to take a college course. 

A preparatory department was opened in connection 
with the college, and I was requested to take charge of it 
and also to examine in English studies candidates for the 

58 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 59 

college department. While there were many bright and 
intelligent young men, a great lack of general and scientific 
knowledge was brought to light in the examination. As a 
result there was a very small class to take the regular 
college studies and a large preparatory department. Some 
of the methods that had been adopted in the Connecticut 
Normal School were introduced in this department with 
success, and the combined efforts to re-establish this old 
state college bore satisfactory results from the first. 

For a few weeks I boarded with Professor Atherton, but 
at Mr. Barnard's request I took charge of the boarding- 
house, and Mrs. Camp and our two daughters came to 
Annapolis, which then became our home. The college 
faculty were all very cordial to us and we made many 
friends in the city, especially in the families of teachers of 
the Naval Academy. My daughter Ellen taught a class 
of girls in Professor Dashiel's school for a while, and 
we both read the Thirty Years' War in German with 
Professor Steflin of the college. 

When the Bureau of Education was established in 
Washington, Dr. Barnard was appointed at the head as 
Commissioner of Education. He wished me to go with 
him to assist in the department. I was urged very hard 
to remain in Annapolis and take a more responsible posi- 
tion in the college. Our social relations and surroundings 
had been pleasant, and we could go to Baltimore and 
Washington every week if we chose— to the former place 
without expense, through the courtesy of the Naval 
Academy which sent a steamer there every week. But 
our friends and relatives and my pecuniary interests were 
largely in Connecticut. My parents were reaching old 
age and wanted me nearer them. Mr. Barnard was ur- 
gent that I should join him in the Bureau of Education, 
and as he wished me to travel and spend some time at his 
office in Hartford, I resigned my position at college and 
removed my family to our home in New Britain and 



60 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

entered upon service in the Bureau of Education at 
Washington. 

While I was in Washington the trial of President John- 
son occurred. There was a great demand for tickets, but 
I was fortunate in having one given me through Senator 
Trumbull of Illinois. My seat was a favorable one, and 
I had the privilege of listening to most of the evidence and 
much of the argument during the trial. The building 
was crowded at every session. Alexander Stephens, 
Benjamin Butler, and other men of note were present and 
argued the case. One of the most impressive incidents of 
the trial was the speech of Benjamin Butler, who kept 
the pages running to the library for books and an assistant 
turning to volume and page as he quoted one authority 
after another to support his argument, until he had a huge 
pile of books on the table before him and a large audience 
listening to his eloquence. When the vote was finally 
cast, with thirty-five votes in favor of impeachment and 
nineteen against it, so that the change of one vote would 
have altered the decision, there was excitement and dis- 
appointment to many, but general relief. 

While I was at Washington with Dr. Barnard, the First 
Congregational Church of Washington was organized. I 
had been appointed delegate from the South Church of 
New Britain, and attended the council with Dr. Goodell. 

At Mr. Barnard's request I visited the Eastern and 
Middle states at this time, going as far west as St. Paul 
and Des Moines, to obtain information for the Bureau of 
Education. In nearly every state I met former students 
of the Normal School. While speaking before a crowded 
audience at Normal, Illinois, a woman in the audience was 
noticed to be weeping. When questioned she said that 
the sight of the speaker made her so homesick for New 
Britain that she could not keep the tears from her eyes. 
She had been a student in the Connecticut Normal School. 
While at St. Paul and about to give an address on Normal 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 61 

Schools, I learned that the Normal School of Connecticut 
was to be closed by action of the Legislature. 

Mr. Barnard had learned that a circular had been issued 
describing a Normal School in Southern Illinois. As Mr. 
Barnard's name appeared on the circular without his per- 
mission or previous knowledge, he wished me to ascer- 
tain the facts about the school. I found the school was 
reported as located at Carbondale in Southern Illinois. 
On arriving at the railway station I asked for directions to 
the school. No one seemed to have knowledge of such an 
institution. At last by the aid of the postmaster I was 
directed to an unused path which led to a field at a con- 
siderable distance from the highway, and here were the 
foundations of a building which had apparently been de- 
serted for several months. This was the only show for the 
Normal School so fully advertised. 

The illness and death of my father in the winter of 1868- 
1869 seemed to require my personal attention at home, and 
I was obliged to give up work for the Bureau of Education, 
except such as I could render Mr. Barnard at his oj05ce or 
home in Hartford. 

On retiring from service for the Bureau of Education, I 
was invited by O. D. Case of Hartford to undertake the 
compilation and editorial work of the American Year Book, 
and accepted. 

In the preparation of this work I passed some time in 
New York, Boston, Washington, and some other cities. 
I was materially aided by Mr. Greeley, Mr. Young, and 
other editors of the Tribune and of other newspapers. In 
the various public departments at Washington, I found 
many willing helpers and a readiness to furnish any in- 
formation desired which could be obtained at these de- 
partments. The preparation of this work necessarily 
brought me into communication with executive officers of 
all the states and territories and led to the formation of 
some pleasant acquaintances. Though the volume was 



62 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

favorably received, it did not become a source of profit 
either to the author or to the publishers. 

A written request signed by a number of the leading 
citizens of New Britain and followed by oral communica- 
tions induced me to found the New Britain Seminary. 
Here my daughter Ellen and I taught for several years, 
but my health failing, I was eventually obliged to relin- 
quish teaching. The school was continued for some years 
by Mr. Lincoln A. Rogers and my daughter. The plan 
at first contemplated only a school for young ladies, but 
the urgent request of parents and citizens led to modifica- 
tion of the arrangement of the building, and a department 
was opened for boys. The school was continued with 
marked success for several years, but the development of 
the model classes connected with the Normal School made it 
less important that this school should be continued, and it 
was closed. The rooms were used by the State for classes 
of the Model School until the annex built for them was 
completed and ready for occupancy. 

In 1883 occurred the death of my wife, the devoted and 
beloved companion of nearly forty years. 

[In 1864 Mr. Camp was secretary of the National 
Teachers' Association, afterwards known as the National 
Education Association. In 1881 he took part as a charter 
member in the organizing of the National Council of Edu- 
cation.! 



CHAPTER VHI 
OUR BOARDERS 

In the early history of the Normal School there was 
difficulty in finding proper places for the students, and 
our house was sometimes filled with Normal School 
boarders. Several of the teachers of the Normal and 
High Schools have boarded with us at different times, 
some for a few weeks, others for a longer term. Through 
this means I have kept in touch with the schools, have 
known of their work, and in some instances have been able 
to render aid. 

Soon after Dr. C. L. Goodell came to the South Church 
as a pastor he made his home with us, and when he was 
married he brought his bride to our home. We had the 
privilege of entertaining Dr. Goodell and his wife for nearly 
a year until a parsonage was completed. While they were 
with us we had the privilege of receiving visits from Gov- 
ernor Fairbanks, who was Mrs. Goodell's father, and 
other members of the family. 

Sometimes we have had boys placed under our care. 
Thus in the few years before the Civil War, George Dewey 
and William Schnell of Newbern, North Carolina, were 
with us for a few years. In one of the vacations I went 
home with them. They had readily conformed to north- 
ern customs while in Connecticut, but I noticed that as 
soon as we were south of Washington they required the 
black people to perform all kinds of service, commanding 
them as master to slave. During my visit to Newbern 
I was invited to the residences of gentlemen of the town to 
meet some of the people socially. In these informal meet- 
ings I would hear slavery bitterly denounced even when a 
number of slaves were serving at the table at which we were 
eating. 

63 



64 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

When the Civil War broke out, the boys were recalled 
home. Dewey said, when he left, that if he should be 
compelled to enter the Southern army, he would never 
point a gun toward a soldier from New Britain. 

They both entered the Southern army. Will Schnell 
was taken prisoner in battle by members of the Sunday 
School class to which he belonged when he resided in New 
Britain. He was exchanged and afterwards killed in 
battle. 

At different times I had Chinese and Japanese young 
men under my care. Some of them have occupied official 
or other positions of influence since their return to their 
native country. In general, the Japanese students were 
the more thoughtful and persistent in their studies. 



CHAPTER IX 
SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE 

While engaged in teaching in the Seminary, I took a long 
vacation, and with my two daughters and a few other 
pupils made another trip to Europe, visiting England, 
Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, 
and Austria. There were many interesting incidents on 
our trip, and I returned much invigorated in health, but 
was able to continue teaching only a few years longer. 

The two young ladies who made the whole trip with us 
were Harriet Beckley Collins of New Britain and Miss 
Van Sanvoort of Mount Vernon, N. Y. Both were seasick 
on the outward voyage, and Harriet said if she could 
see all Europe it would not compensate for what she had 
suffered. But later in a single day after visiting Stratford 
and Warwick, we took a carriage to Leamington, riding 
across the country, visiting Kenilworth and some English 
parks, and at night Harriet said that she had seen enough 
that day to compensate for all she had suffered on ship- 
board. 

Arriving, after the ocean voyage, at Liverpool in the 
late afternoon, I telegraphed to A. P. Collins at New 
Britain at 7 P. M. by Liverpool time. The telegram 
was received at 5 P. M. by New Britain time. 

It was learned at the hotel that two distinct meals were 
served in the evening, "dinner" and "tea." The ladies 
decided that they preferred dinner. There were five in 
the party so dinner for five was ordered. Before it was 
entirely eaten one of the ladies asked for a cup of tea. 
When the bill was presented it was for six meals, five 
"dinners" and one "tea." 

We passed but a few days in London at this time, as we 
desired to go to the continent before the hot weather. 

65 



66 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

We visited Scotland, going by way of Loch Katrine and 
the Trossachs. One Sunday was passed in the Highlands 
and another in Edinburgh. At the latter place I heard 
a hotel keeper rebuke some gentlemen for singing songs on 
Sunday though at the same time he was dispensing intox- 
icants to his customers. 

Our visit to the English Lake Country was brief but in- 
teresting. On arriving at Lodore in the afternoon after a 
long carriage ride, we found very little water at the falls, 
and some of the party were disappointed with the view. 
But during the night there was a violent storm, the 
stream was full in the morning, and the rapids could be 
seen in all their grandeur. 

We crossed to the continent from Harwick to Antwerp. 
Arriving in the early morning we passed the day with the 
wonderful paintings and interesting museums. Going 
by rail to Cologne we were there joined by Miss Louise 
Wakely who traveled with us the rest of our journey. 
The Cathedral at Cologne and other objects of interest 
occupied but a day or two of our time. We then pro- 
ceeded up the Rhine b}" boat, having a fine view of the 
castles on its banks. 

After a few days at Geneva we went to Chamonix by 
diligence. The few days passed here were full of interest. 
The whole party went on horseback to the great glacier, 
Mer de Glace. Some of the ladies who had never ridden 
in that way before declared that they could not keep on 
their horses,"but as each had a separate guide who had been 
instructed not to let any one dismount until the glacier 
was reached, all arrived safely and walked partly over 
the sea of ice. 

On a previous visit to the glacier I had walked the whole 
distance to it, across the glacier, and returned to Chamonix 
from the other side on foot, but it was a hard day's task. 
On my first visit to this place I crossed the Tete Noir on 
horseback, as there was only a bridle path over the 



SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE 67 

mountain. But the path had since been widened so 
that our party were taken over safely in a wagonette. 
The road was rough in places but safe. A short ride by 
rail in the evening brought us to the foot of the Giesbach 
range of the Alps. This we crossed the next day in a 
diligence. We were called at three o'clock in the morning 
for an early breakfast. As soon as it was light, the 
diligence started. For an hour the road zigzagged up the 
mountain, and we could then see the hotel and the village 
we had left apparently but a short distance below us. 

It was the fourth of July. In passing over the moun- 
tains we frequently passed the remains of snow drifts, and 
when the diligence stopped at noon the girls had a game of 
snow ball. At one place the vehicle passed through what 
had been a tunnel through an immense snow drift. The 
roof of the tunnel had fallen in, but the snow was still as 
high as the windows of the diligence. Before we arrived 
at our destination at night by one of the Italian Lakes, we 
passed by ripening grain fields. 

The weather was very warm while we were in Turin, 
Milan, and Bologna, and our stops in Turin and Bologna 
were brief. We remained longer in Milan, where we 
passed some time in the Cathedral and its different 
chambers. The weather of Florence was more favorable, 
and we passed several days in its picture galleries and 
museums. As one of the young ladies, Miss Van San- 
voort, was taken ill, and much sickness was reported at 
Rome, we avoided that city and went from Florence to 
Pisa and then to Venice. Here we found delightful 
weather and pleasant surroundings. 

From Venice we went into Austria at Innsbruck and 
over the Austrian Alps to Luzerne. Here I left the party 
for a few days while I went to Winterthur where the 
O. D. Case Company were having some engraving done 
for outline maps. When we arrived at Munich I again 
left the party to visit galleries and museums while I 
went to Vienna to visit the exposition. 



68 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

I had tickets to a hotel in Vienna to which tourists were 
consigned by an agency, but on arriving there I found the 
hotel crowded. I went then to an Austrian hotel, where 
I found comfortable rooms and excellent fare and attend- 
ance, all at a reasonable rate. A card in the chamber 
which I occupied prescribed with government signature 
the daily rates which might be charged for the room and 
for meals. 

The exposition was very favorably situated on an ex- 
tensive park easy of access. In manufacture and food 
products it was much less extensive than the exhibitions 
of Philadelphia, of London at the Crystal Palace, or of 
Chicago or Paris, but in paintings, sculpture, and the fine 
arts generally it exceeded any of the other expositions. 
Loans of rare and expensive works of art had been made 
by the different royal courts and noted galleries of Europe, 
so that a rare collection of art had been secured. The 
exhibition was opened on Sundays as on other days, but 
the Fairbanks Company and some other American com- 
panies kept their exhibits covered, and had no display or 
attendance on that day. 

From Munich our route to Paris was by Strasburg,. 
where we passed a night and had a view of the famous 
Cathedral and its contents. It was a short time after the 
war between France and Germany, and German soldiers 
were still parading in the streets of Strasburg. The two 
weeks passed in Paris and vicinity were full of interest 
to all the members of the party. When ready to leave for 
London, some of the young ladies declared that they were 
tired of visiting museums, picture galleries, cathedrals, 
and works of art, and would be glad to see their homes and 
find a place of rest. 

In London, at the recommendation of Mr. Henry 
Russell, we found a pleasant stopping place in a 'pension 
kept by a cultivated American lady in the fashionable 
part of the city and near the Houses of Parliament and 



SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE 69 

places of greatest interest. While in Windsor viewing one 
of the royal parks, one of the young ladies remarked that 
it seemed a pity that so large a tract should be reserved 
for royalty while there were so many poor people needing 
land to cultivate. By the remark she seriously offended 
the royal attendant, ever loyal to his Queen. Places of 
special interest in London, as Westminster Abbey, St. 
Paul's, the Tower, and other historical places were visited. 
As most of their purchases had been made in Paris, the 
ladies had few things to buy in London. They heard 
Spurgeon and other noted preachers and saw much of 
interest in the place. 

The trip was on the whole a pleasant one. I was very 
thankful that after visiting so many countries and passing 
over so many routes there had been no accident, and all 
were in good health for the return home. 

The steamer on the return voyage left Liverpool in a 
storm. I became seasick and went to the table in the 
cabin but once during the voyage. 



CHAPTER X 
LITERARY WORK 

Literary work of various kinds enlisted my attention at 
different periods, and occupied part of my time, both 
while I was teaching and for a number of years afterward. 

My first book was a small Globe Manual published by 
George Sherwood and Company of Chicago [1864]. 

[The next year Mr. Camp brought out through the same 
publishers a Manual of Illustrative Teaching which in- 
cluded the Globe Manual as one of its three parts.] 

I revised Mitchell's Outline Maps for O. D. Case and 
Company, correcting the Key to correspond. I after- 
wards prepared a set of Outline Maps which were used 
extensively in schools, especially in the western states. 
I was the author of four different Geographies to go with 
the maps. 

For a short time I edited and published the Connecticut 
School Journal and wrote the editorials for a daily news- 
paper. I gave a much longer time to the work of gathering 
the data for the American Year Book and editing it. 

While occupied with the Year Book I was frequently in 
the office of the New York Tribune and became well 
acquainted with Horace Greeley, who was then the editor- 
in-chief, and with some others of the editorial staff. Mr. 
Greeley was very near-sighted, and he had a special desk 
which stood at about the level of his chin while he was at 
work. Besides his private room at the Tribune office he 
had a small room in the upper part of the city which he 
called his "den" and in which he wrote many of the 
editorials for the Tribune. Mr. Greeley wrote an article 
for the Year Book and also lectured at institutes which 
I held in New Jersey. He always attracted large audi- 
ences. He seldom used notes but would sometimes have 

70 



LITERARY WORK 71 

the heads of his lectures on numerous pieces of paper 
about two inches square to which he would refer as he 
talked. 

He was usually very mild in manner, and in his long 
light colored overcoat looked very peaceful, but when 
matters did not go as he wished he could become quite 
excited and use strong language. On one occasion a large 
business house in New York was desirous of having a 
full-page illustrated advertisement in the Tribune, but 
knowing Mr. Greeley's aversion to display or cuts of any 
kind, the manager of the house w^aited until Mr. Greeley 
had left the office and then went to the publisher to 
arrange for the publication. At first the request was 
denied, but at last when asked to fix a price, the publisher 
named a sum so high he supposed it would be prohibitive. 
It was accepted, however, the copy was furnished, and the 
next morning the Tribune appeared with a page advertise- 
ment of Fairbank's scales profusely illustrated. Mr. 
Greeley came into the office in the morning full of wrath, 
with paper in hand, and wanted to know if any one could 
tell him when, or why, the Tribune had become a pictorial 
newspaper. 

I became acquainted at the same time with N. C. 
Meeker, who had charge of the Agricultural Department 
of the Tribune and who afterwards went west and founded 
the town of Greeley. He was a modest man, skilled in 
agriculture, and the writer of an article for the Year Book. 

On account of persistent throat and lung trouble I was 
for several years advised by my physician to pass a portion 
of each winter and spring in a milder climate. At the 
time of the blizzard in March, 1888, I was at Fortress 
Monroe. There we had a violent storm of wind but no 
snow. It was several days after the storm before I could 
communicate with home by mail or telegraph. When I 
came home several days after, there were streets in New 
York not yet open to traflfic, and the cars passed through 
cuts in drifts where the snow was nearly to the top of the 



72 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

car windows. I was in Lakewood for several years during 
portions of February, March, and April, and found its 
climate particularly beneficial. Some of my literary 
work was done there. 

At the request of Mayor F. T. Stanley and others, I 
undertook the preparation of the History of New Britain, 
Farmington, and Berlin. This work, which took me out 
of doors most of the time, I found conducive to health 
though not financially remunerative. I visited the 
cemeteries of Farmington, Berlin, and New Britain, and 
all other places in the townships of special historic interest. 
I consulted the aged persons of these towns and other 
persons such as clerks and collectors who had been brought 
in contact with the people of former years. I necessarily 
gave much time to town, society, and church records, 
sometimes passing most of the day in a town clerk's office 
looking through musty volumes to interpret the meaning 
of records nearly obliterated by the ravages of time. I 
found some records which were supposed to be entirely 
lost, in the hands of the descendants of the early settlers of 
these towns, who had removed to New York, New Haven, 
and other places. 

Though a work of much labor there was much of interest 
connected with it. I found many interesting old people 
and was everywhere met with kindly co-operation. I was 
especially indebted to William H. Lee and Amos R. Eno 
of New York, Charles Hoodley of Hartford, and to T. W. 
Stanley, F. T. Stanley, and H. W. Whiting of New Britain, 
for information given. This work occupied my time for 
three or four years. [It was finished in 1889.] 

[It should be added that these are only the larger items 
in Mr. Camp's literary work. Some of his institute lec- 
tures and other addresses have been printed in pamphlet 
form or as chapters in the proceedings of the associations 
before which they were delivered. Historical sketches 
from his hand have been embodied in a number of his- 
torical reports and collections. During the period of his 
main educational activities he contributed quite largely 
to the educational periodicals.] 



CHAPTER XI 
FINANCIAL AND CIVIC INTERESTS 

In my early life business was conducted in an entirely 
different manner from that of to-day. Agriculture and 
small manufacturing were the principal employments of 
the residents of central Connecticut. The farms were 
chiefly small, or when as large as a few hundred acres, 
included mountain land or swamps not suitable for tillage. 
Little attention was given to the rotation of crops or to 
any form of scientific farming. As a consequence while 
in favorable circumstances there would sometimes be 
records of large crops, the ordinary returns from agri- 
culture were small. 

My father's farm included several hundred acres, but 
probably not more than one-third of it was suitable for 
cultivation. Part of the remaining land was good pasture 
land upon which his flocks of sheep and herds of young 
cattle grazed. The mountain land was covered with 
forests, the cutting of which furnished work for his help 
in the winter, while the drawing of the wood occupied his 
teams. The products of the farm were largely used in the 
family, or were exchanged for groceries and other articles 
needed by its members. 

In a community of such circumstances the amount of 
money in circulation was small, all business transactions 
except the sale and purchase of farms were of small 
amount, and there was little opportunity for speculation. 
There were no very rich families and few very poor ones. 
Integrity and fair dealing were the rule rather than the 
exception in all kinds of business transactions. Economy 
was necessarily practiced in both domestic and business 
affairs. 

73 



74 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

As I have mentioned already, my father believed it to 
be best that I should early have business responsibilities 
placed upon me. So while I was attending school he 
often placed products of the farm in my hands for sale, 
and on holidays or in vacations I was sent to Middletown 
or New Haven with loads of wood, of vegetables, or of 
fruit for sale. 

My father was accustomed to buy cattle in the spring, 
feed them through the summer and autumn, and sell 
them to butchers in the fall and winter for beef. 

On one occasion while I was attending school in Durham, 
he sent me to buy oxen. I bought a pair of large cattle 
without horns and drove them home. It was the first 
large trade I made, the price seemed high, and my father 
and I were doubtful whether we would get the return of 
our money. So I kept a careful account of the cost of 
pasturage, feed, and care, and when they were sold in the 
autumn we found that after deducting all expenses there 
was a handsome clear profit on the transaction. 

I had become convinced that some crops on the farm 
were being cultivated at a loss, and prevailed upon my 
father to give me the data by which we might determine 
whether it was so. Taking his value of the land and 
keeping a careful account of the cost of fertilizers, labor, 
seed, taxes, and other expenses, I was able to show that 
while some crops were yielding a fair profit, others were 
cultivated at a loss. The result was a change in the 
selection of crops. 

While teaching in public schools salaries were very low, 
so besides giving considerable time to reading and the 
study of foreign languages, I was glad to receive a small 
income from the time given on evenings and holidays to 
writing up the books of merchants and manufacturers. 

Some of my investments in western banks, mines, and 
lands proved worthless, while others were remunerative. 



FINANCIAL AND CIVIC INTERESTS 75 

Investments in local concerns have with a few exceptions 
been remunerative. 

On the organization of the Skinner Chuck Company in 
1887, I was persuaded to take a little of the stock, not 
expecting at the time to engage personally in the service 
of the company. Circumstances seemed later to make 
it desirable that I should give some time to the company's 
financial operations, so I gave up some of my other work, 
and now for more than twenty years have given much of 
my time to business. This has brought me into the open 
air, has occupied much of my time, and has generally 
seemed to be conducive to health. 

My observations and experiences in the business world 
have led me to believe that while at times there is misrepre- 
sentation and fraud, the majority of business men are 
upright and are desirous of being honest in their trans- 
actions. 

[Mr. Camp was president of the Skinner Chuck Com- 
pany from 1887 to 1915. 

Another main item in his business interests was his 
connection with the New Britain National Bank. The 
graceful words of Mr. Andrew J. Sloper, the president of 
the bank, are quoted in summary of this division of his 
activity. 

"It is a full half century, fifty years ago last month, 
that this bank commenced business, and Mr. Camp, as 
one of the original subscribers to the stock of this bank, is 
the only one living who has continued as a stockholder 
during that period. . . . Mr. Camp became a mem- 
ber of the Board of Directors in 1874, and with the ex- 
ception of William H. Hart who was elected in 1866, Mr. 
Camp is the oldest in length of service, and it is of record 
that his attendance at board meetings stands far above 
that of any other member, past or present. His wide 
acquaintance, ripe experience, and careful and conserva- 
tive judgment have given such weight to his opinions that 
they have come to be the standard by which the affairs 
of the bank are conducted. The year that he was elected 



76 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

a member of the board he was appointed as chairman of 
the auditing committee and has served continuously in 
that position, and been present and directed and reported 
every semi-annual examination during that time. How 
well and thoroughly that difficult and exacting work has 
been done, and with what confidence those reports have 
been received and accepted, I need not remind you. In 
behalf of the officers and employees whose accounts have 
been examined, your president can bear testimony to the 
rigid scrutiny to which the affairs of the bank have been 
subjected and to the unfailing courtesy with which the 
examinations have been conducted. 

"For twenty -five years he has served as vice-president 
of the bank without compensation, and while the active 
m^anagement of the details of the business have not de- 
volved upon him, he has filled the office with dignity and 
with entire acceptance to the members of the board." 
{New Britain Daily Herald, October 3, 1910.) 

Mr. Camp was president of the Adkins Printing Com- 
pany from its organization in 1880 till his death. 

In 1871 Mr. Camp was a member of the Common 
Council of New Britain. From 1872 to 1876 he was on 
the Board of Aldermen. He was mayor from 1877 to 
1879. In 1879 he served a term in the General Assembly 
of the State and was chairman of the Committee on Edu- 
cation. 

When the New Britain Institute was organized in 1853, 
Mr. Camp was made chairman of the Library Committee. 
He retained this office for the remainder of his life, and 
its duties were one of his larger interests. In travelling 
he eagerly visited the libraries of other cities. He went 
to a number of meetings of the American Library Asso- 
ciation. In the routine of his activities in New Britain no 
pursuit seemed to give him more pleasure than his part in 
the affairs of the Institute library. Mr. Camp was presi- 
dent of the Institute from 1853 to 1864. On the incor- 
poration of the Institute in 1858, he was one of the incor- 
porators. During the years 1897 to 1901 he was an active 
member of the committee that had charge of the erection 
of the present building of the Institute. He was vice- 
president of the Institute from 1900 to 1905, and a second 
time president from 1905 till the time of his death. 



FINANCIAL AND CIVIC INTERESTS 77 

In 1867 Mr. Camp was president of the New Britain 
Young Men's Christian Association. From 1881 to 1890 
he was president of the Connecticut Temperance Union. 
He continued as director of the Union till 1912 when he 
retired from active responsibility and was made life 
director. He was president of the Board of Managers of 
the Erwin Home from the time of its incorporation in 1893 
till 1914, ' He was vice-president of the Erwin Home 
Corporation from its founding till his death.] 



CHAPTER XII 
RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 

Both of my parents were members of the Congregational 
church. My father was a deacon of the church in Durham 
when he removed from the place in 1843. He was 
regular in attendance at church and at prayer and con- 
ference meetings, the weather seldom detaining him at 
home. In winter when the snowdrifts obstructed the road 
he would send out an ox team and sleds to break a path, 
or would hitch two or four horses to a big sleigh, and taking 
some of his workmen with shovels, would proceed to the 
meetinghouse, breaking a path for himself and for others. 
He was a punctual attendant at the church prayer- 
meeting held on Thursday afternoons at the church two 
and one-half miles from home, and even in the busy 
summer season would arrange his business so as to attend 
the meeting. He was also generally present at the 
monthly concert of prayer for missions held at the church 
or chapel the first Monday evening of every month. 

In my childhood days. Sabbath rest and the cessation of 
business and sports were supposed to commence soon 
after sundown on Saturday evening. Tools were put 
away, playthings were consigned to closets, and prep- 
arations were made for keeping the Sabbath. Since 
on Sunday evening a conference meeting was held at a 
schoolhouse near our home, at which all members of the 
family able to attend were expected to be present, there 
was not much question of how to pass that evening. 

At the meetinghouse there were two preaching services 
on Sunday, one at half past ten, continuing until noon, 
and a second service at half past one, usually closing about 
three. In the intermission Sunday School was held, and 
a lunch carried from home was eaten when there was time. 

78 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 79 

Members of the family who had driven to church arrived 
home about four o'clock, the horses were put in the stable, 
those who had walked to church arrived a little later, and 
then the Sunday dinner, the principal meal of the day, 
was eaten. After dinner in the winter season, the family 
was brought together in the living room to recite the 
Assembly's catechism or some scripture lesson, continuing 
until nearly time for the evening prayer-meeting. 

In my early childhood many barrels of cider were made 
each year from apples raised on the farm. Cider was 
used freely in the family and furnished to the workmen 
on the farm. In seasons when it was unusually plentiful 
the surplus was taken to a still and converted into cider- 
brandy. I well remember an occasion when I was quite 
young, on which my father took me with him when he 
went to a still in Durham for some cider-brandy that was 
due him there, and on which I heard him remark that he 
had cider-brandy enough to last him and his workmen 
several years. 

While my father did not use distilled liquors of any kind 
they were furnished to his workmen particularly in harvest 
time as was then the universal custom, but in the tem- 
perance reformations which followed the delivery of Dr. 
Lyman Beecher's six famous sermons on temperance in 
1825, and the organization of the National Temperance 
Society in 1826, he became a strong temperance advocate. 
The cider-brandy which had been so highly prized was 
thereupon taken out of the cellar and poured on the ground. 
He did not drink or sell cider after that but converted his 
apples into vinegar or fed them to his stock. 

My mother was even more opposed to intoxicants than 
my father. A devout Christian woman, she prayed with 
and for her children and brought them up "in the fear of 
the Lord." 

With my childhood in such a family, with beloved 
Christian parents watching over me and praying for me. 



80 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

it miglit seem that I should have been good. But I was 
undoubtedly much like other boys morally, violating no 
rules of propriety, but without any positive conviction of 
sin. I had been taught to say my prayers from earliest 
childhood, had been to Sunday School, and had attended 
meetings that had no particular interest for me. 

It was during the general religious awakening of 1831 
that my mind became more deeply impressed with the 
idea of the sinfulness of sin and the need of a Savior. 
I attended inquiry meetings, especially those for children, 
and read the Bible and religious books, but wandered in 
darkness for days before peace came. At last it flowed 
like a river. 

I united with the Congregational Church in Durham, and 
for more than five years was its youngest member. Con- 
scious of my unworthiness and failure to realize the expec- 
tations of my parents or of myself, I have nevertheless 
felt that the step may have been ordered in God's 
Providence for the best, both for me and for the world. 

Timid, extremely bashful, easily led by others, I might 
have been much worse without the restraining influences 
about me. From the time my mother first taught me 
I had been a great reader, especially of story books, but 
now my taste was changed. Abbott's Young Christian 
became a fascinating book for me. Pilgrim's Progress 
occupied leisure moments. The works of Doddridge, 
Baxter, and others, and the poems of Milton, Pollock, 
and Young, became my delight. The teachings and 
influence of our pastor. Reverend Henry Gleason, and his 
beloved wife, were a great help to me in those years of 
character forming. Their kindly words and wise counsels 
came just at a time when such helps were needed. Sug- 
gestions in forming rules of daily living were among the 
helps given. In after years when questions of casuistry 
arose, the fact that I was a member of Christ's church 
would often determine the decision and leave no necessity 
of debating the propriety of an act. 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 81 

The prolonged illness which so materially changed my 
life's plans, was followed by a feeling of gratitude for 
recovery and a desire in some way, though feebly, to 
further the cause of my Master. The position of teacher 
seemed to afford the most favorable opportunity, and 
for most of the time during more than forty years I was 
engaged in teaching or educational work of some kind. 

I became secretary and then teacher of the Sunday 
School in Durham before leaving that place, and was 
afterwards teacher in Sunday Schools in North Branford, 
Meriden, and New Britain, and was Sunday School 
superintendent for a time in each of the latter places. 
For a dozen years or more in New Britain, I had a Bible 
class held on Sunday mornings in the hall of the Normal 
School attended chiefly by Normal students, and another 
Bible class in church at noon. In all of these places there 
were great opportunities for the influencing of young people 
for the better. My chief regret is that I did not do more. 

I was made deacon of the First Church in Meriden in 
1848, and continued to serve after removal to New Britain 
until 1853, when a letter was taken to the South Church 
of New Britain. I was soon afterwards elected to the 
office in this church, but felt obliged to decline on account 
of duties arising from my connection with the educational 
work in the state. I served on the standing committee 
for several years, however, before I was again elected 
deacon in 1861. 

In my earlier Christian experience, I found help from 
a few rules of life, which I wrote out and kept with my 
Bible, and to which I could frequently refer. There were 
epochs when I especially felt the need of their help. 
One of these was my departure from home and removal 
from its restraining influences. Then again on my reach- 
ing my twenty-first year there seemed to be a pressing 
burden to seek help, not only from God, but by adopting 
some definite fixed rule of action. While I know that 



82 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

some of these rules were only imperfectly kept, I should 
be loth to say that they had not been a help to me. 

While a school boy, I was taken by my parents to the 
anniversaries of the national missionary societies, for some 
years held in the Broadway Tabernacle a little north of 
the Park on Broadway, New York. After early becoming 
a member of these societies I began to attend the annual 
meetings regularly when they were held east of the 
Mississippi River. 

Rev. David Smith and Rev. Henry Gleason, pastors of 
the Church in Durham, were my early religious teachers. 
I later became somewhat intimately acquainted with Rev. 
Z. Crocker of Cromwell, Rev. Z. Whitemore of North 
Guilford, Rev. John S. Baldwin of North Branford, Rev. 
Nathaniel W. Taylor of Yale College, Rev. Noah Porter, 
Rev. Horace Bushnell, Rev. Merrill Richardson, Rev. 
George Perkins, and some others, before I became actively 
identified with the state and national missionary societies. 
I afterwards found many warm friends among the officers 
of those societies, and among the clergymen of New Eng- 
land and elsewhere. 

For many years the annual meetings of the American 
Home Missionary Society were held at Saratoga Springs, 
and it was my fortune to be present at nearly all of them. 
These meetings were attended with much interest, and 
I there became acquated in with the Secretaries, Doctors 
Clark and Choate, and many others who were life long 
friends. 

It was my privilege to be present at the organization of 
the General Conference of Congregational Churches of 
Connecticut at New Britain in 1867. I was a delegate 
to the first annual meeting in Waterbury in 1868, and I 
have attended most of the meetings since. I became a 
member of the Board of Directors in 1875. In the various 
meetings of this board I have been privileged to make the 
acquaintance of many of the pastors of the Congregational 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 83 

churches of Connecticut, and have known something of 
their sacrifice and devotion in promoting the interests 
and welfare of the Congregational churches of the state. 
Through the same means I have been brought into close 
relations with some of the mission churches and their 
pastors, and with some of the foreign churches, and have 
found Connecticut true missionary ground. 

[In 1875 Mr. Camp became a director of the Missionary 
Society of Connecticut; from 1882 to 1901 he held the 
office of auditor; from 1882 to 1908 he was chairman of 
the Finance Committee; in 1899 he became a member of 
the Executive Committee; in 1900 he was elected presi- 
dent; the latter office he held for the remainder of his life.] 

I was chosen auditor of the National Council of the 
Congregational Churches of the United States in 1883, 
and by repeated re-elections I was continued in office until 
1913, a period of thirty years. It has been my privilege 
to attend the meetings of the National Council and of 
the national societies connected with it, at New Haven, 
Chicago, Worcester, Syracuse, Portland, Oregon, Des 
Moines, Cleveland, and Boston. 

My attendance on the meetings of that body led me to 
become acquainted with many of the prominent ministers 
of the denomination in this country, and gave me the 
privilege of listening to them in sermon, address, and dis- 
cussion. At the same meetings, the principles, doctrines, 
and methods of Congregational churches were often 
brought before the council in a way which gave observers 
the opportunity to learn much of Congregational polity. 

In 1898 Ellen was my companion in attendance upon 
the National Council at Portland, Oregon. Going out via 
Chicago we stopped a few days with Mrs. George Sherwood 
of that city, a former student of the Normal School, and 
an active worker in moral and religious work in Chicago. 
On the train between Minneapolis and the West we met 
Mr. Almstrohm, a former pastor of the Swedish Church 



84 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

of New Britain, who studied English and the Bible at 
our home. 

Our next stop was at Moorhead, Minnesota, where I 
had some land in cultivation. Here we had an opportu- 
nity to ride out over the virgin prairie, and also to see 
the fields of grain and vegetables where the land had been 
cultivated. It was the first time that Ellen had seen 
extensive prairies in their wild state. Passing the Sabbath 
here we attended a small Congregational Church with an 
audience of less than forty people. On the same street a 
few rods distant were a Baptist church and a Methodist 
church, both small buildings. One of them was closed^ 
and the other had a smaller audience than the Congrega- 
tional Church. We visited Fargo in Dakota, and saw 
there the business of a city in the midst of the great wheat 
fields of the North West. 

At Livingston we left the main line of the railway, the 
Northern Pacific, and traveled by a short line a few miles, 
and by stage, to the Mammoth Springs Hotel in the 
Yellowstone National Park. A ride of a few hours about 
the Mammoth Springs and other places of interest gave 
us a foretaste of the wonders of the Park. The next 
morning we left the hotel in a four-horse stage for a six 
days' trip of exploration of it. Our companions were the 
Bishop of Minnesota and his wife, and a traveler returning 
from Alaska. The trip was full of interest, every day 
revealing new objects of attention in the colors of the 
water, the action of the springs, and the wonderful 
scenery. We met in the Park, Reverend Doctor Bradford 
and Reverend F. M. Noble, D. D. and his wife, all of 
whom we afterwards saw at the meetings of the Council at 
Portland. 

At Portland, we were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Eggert, 
who also entertained Dr. Lyman of Brooklyn, Rev. Joel 
S. Ives of Meriden, and some others. Ellen addressed the 
Woman's Missionary Association of the state, and I made 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 85 

my report to the National Council. Rev. F. A. Noble was 
elected Moderator of the Council. The meetings were 
full of interest and importance. 

After a week in Portland at the Council we went to San 
Francisco, stopping at the Grand Hotel and visiting noted 
places. Ellen was especially interested in the Chinese 
Quarter and the parks, while I went to the business part 
of the city. 

From San Francisco we went to the Yosemite by way 
of Merced. A short ride by railway and a day and a half 
by stage, brought us to this wonderful region. El Capitan, 
standing a single rock more than half a mile in perpen- 
dicular height, was a particularly grand sight. There 
was little water at the Bridal Falls, but enough to show 
their beauty. 

We stopped for a day at Ahwanee to visit the forest of 
big trees. The four-horse stage in w hich we were riding 
was driven through the trunk of one of the trees which 
was still growing, and in the trunk of another we saw a 
party sitting around a table at dinner. 

At Salt Lake City we remained over Sunday and attended 
service in the Mormon Tabernacle. The large building 
was filled with an attentive audience. On Monday we 
went out to Saltair, where a large number of persons were 
bathing in the Great Salt Lake. 

Stopping at Colorado Springs, we passed a night and a 
day at Manitou, visiting the Garden of the Gods and the 
Crystal Cavern. At Denver we met Harry Merriam and 
wife, and with them visited the park and other places of 
interest. 

As Ellen wished to call at the Schauffler Institution in 
Cleveland, which was receiving some aid from the society 
of which she was president, we made our last considerable 
stop at that place. From Cleveland to our home was 
comparatively a short trip. 

Ellen had been strongly impressed at one time with the 



86 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

idea that it was her duty to become a foreign missionary.. 
Afterwards she became more intensely interested in home 
missionary work, and was president of the Woman's 
Society of Connecticut. 

She had frequently been my companion at the annual 
meetings of the national missionary societies in Saratoga 
and other cities, and had been with me at the meeting 
of the national Home Missionary Society at Omaha, 
Nebraska. As this trip to Portland was the last con- 
siderable journey that Ellen made with me, and less than 
two years before her decease, its events were indelibly 
impressed upon my memory in connection with her. 

Ellen's entire consecration to the work of the Master, and 
her devotion to the cause of missions wherever there was 
opportunity for service was an inspiration to others; her 
life and example were an inspiration to me, and her 
co-operation was always helpful in all kinds of religious 
work. Her death in 1900 removed from my side one who 
had been not only a devoted daughter, but a faithful 
counselor and friend, a companion in my trouble, and 
the light of my home. 

Since the death of Ellen, my attendance on the meetings 
of the national benevolent and missionary organizations 
has been less frequent, but my granddaughter, E. Gertrude 
Rogers, was with me at Des Moines in 1901, my grandson, 
D. Miner Rogers, was with me at Cleveland in 1907, 
and my granddaughter, Mary E. Rogers, at Boston in 
1910 and at Toledo in 1912. I was accustomed to attend 
the meetings of the American Board, and the Congrega- 
tional Home Missionary Society as far west as Omaha, 
while Ellen was living, but have necessarily omitted 
some of them in later years. At all of these meetings 
there has been much to inspire the members, and much 
to encourage all who were praying and working for the 
extension of Christ's kingdom on earth. 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 87 

[Among Mr. Camp's papers there have been found 
the two sets of resolutions to which his narrative refers, 
one made at the time of his joining the Christian church, 
the other written on the twenty-first anniversary of his 
birthday and re-adopted with added comments on a num- 
ber of his later birthdays. Since these documents sug- 
gest the key to so much of his life, and present so vividly 
some of the things which we of the present generation 
count of highest value in our inheritance from the past, 
it has seemed permissible to publish them here at the 
close of his own account of his religious history.] 



Resolutions 

1. I am resolved to obey, love, and fear God. 

2. To obey and cheerfully comply with the wishes of 
my parents and teachers. 

3. I will strive ever to treat others with that kindness 
which I wish to receive from them by exhibiting an 
affectionate disposition. 

4. I will endeavor to improve my disposition by 
endeavoring to subdue every wrong emotion. 

5. I am resolved to overcome selfishness by placing self 
very low. 

6. I am resolved never to exaggerate or give a false 
coloring to any statement whatever, sincerely desiring 
that truthfulness may be a prominent trait in my charac- 
ter. 

7. I am resolved that sincerity shall mark my inter- 
course with all. 

8. I will strive to make a wise improvement of my time, 
remembering that for every idle moment I must render 
an account to God. 

9. I will endeavor to apply myself to study during 
school hours and appropriate such hours to study at home 
as the teachers may direct, striving to obey all the rules of 
school and set a good example. 

10. I will endeavor to render myself useful everywhere 



88 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

and by faithful self denying acts induce others to believe 
that I desire faithfully to perform the duties of my 
station. 

11. Regular seasons of prayer morning, noon, and 
evening. 

12. Resolved, to read two chapters in the Bible daily, 
one from the Old Testament and one from the New. 

13. Never to speak a cross word. 

14. That my thoughts and conversation be directed to 
heavenly things. 

15. To be more careful of another's things than my own. 

16. To make the necessary preparations for the Sabbath. 

17. To be punctual in attending meetings when practi- 
cable. 

18. Not to allow my thoughts to wander when I pray or 
when others are praying. 

19. When I know my duty, to do it. 

20. Always to remember that the eye of God is upon me. 

21. To do all the good I can. 

22. I am resolved to think more seriously of these things 
than ever before. I have often thought I wished to 
become truly good and have made efforts to improvement 
but have soon relapsed into old habits. Now I will 
pursue a different course. I will implore the blessing of 
God, asking him for strength to carry out the above 
resolutions. 

Durham, Ct., 1832. 



Durham, Oct. 3, 1841. 
This day is the anniversary of my birthday : to-day I am 
twenty-one years old. Through my infancy, my childhood, 
and my youth has a merciful God watched over me and 
protected me, and now with a full confidence in his prom- 
ises, a perfect belief in his word, full reliance on his 
holy spirit, I take the following as my help in this my 
earthly pilgrimage. 



RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HISTORY 89 

Resolved : 

1. To begin and end every day with prayer. 

2. To be much in prayer continually; while at my daily 
calKng to let my heart arise to God. 

3. To be much in heavenly contemplation and medita- 
tion on divine things, especially at the close of the day. 

4. To let my conversation be such as becomes a follower 
of Christ, a child of God, an heir of heaven. 

5. In all transactions of a secular nature always to let 
principles of justice predominate over those of gain, to 
receive a wrong rather than give one. 

6. To engage in such business only as I can in faith 
pray God to prosper. 

7. Not to participate in any pleasure which has a 
tendency to vitiate the mind, corrupt the morals, or 
draw the soul from God. 

8. To remember that time is an estate, too valuable to be 
squandered away, too precious to be spent in idleness, 
and that every moment be employed to some good purpose. 

Meriden, Oct. 3, 1846. 
On a review of the last five years of my life, I find the 
above resolutions have not at all times been kept as I 
had hoped; yet trusting in the grace of God and atonement 
of Christ, and believing these resolutions to have been 
aids in my life's experience, I again resolve to take them 
as my rules of life, praying God to enable me to keep them. 

D. N. C. 

New Britain, Oct. 3, 1851. 
Five years more have passed like a vapor from my 
earthly course. How feebly have I kept in spirit the 
above resolutions. Yet with stronger faith than ever in 
God's grace and goodness, and in the merits of Christ 
my Saviour, I to-day renew my consecration to God, 
adopt again these principles as my aid. Looking to 
God for help, may the close of the next five years find me 



90 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

farther advanced in Christian life, in holiness, purity, and 
likeness to God, serving him more faithfully here, or united 
with the redeemed in praising him above. 

D. N. Camp. 

New Britain, Oct. 3, 1856. 
Again at the lapse of another five years would I record 
the infinite goodness of God, renew my covenant vows 
with him, and subscribe again to these resolutions, praying 
for Divine aid that I may live holier, purer, and more 
devoted to the cause of Christ in all my life. 

David N. Camp. 

The five years last past have been full of lessons and of 
mercy. I have been taught my own weakness and un- 
worthiness and the infinite grace of God. With reliance 
on that grace and mercy and prayer for the Holy Spirit, 
I here renew my covenant vows and re-adopt these 
resolutions. 

New Britain, Oct. 3, 1861. D. N. Camp. 

Though ill at the return of my sixty-first birthday, I 
had more than ever reason for thankfulness for God's 
goodness, and am more than ever before confident that 
these resolutions embody the sentiments and principles 
which should guide my life. Trusting in Divine aid, I 
again adopt them. 

New Britain, Oct. 3, 1881. D. N. Camp. 

Though Jacob says, after a life of a hundred and thirty 
years, "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life 
been," I must say that many and blessed have the days 
of my life been. Though trials and disappointments 
have come again and again, and I have too often failed 
in achievement, the mercy and goodness of God have 
been infinite and my cup of blessing has been full. 

New Britain, Oct. 3, 1908. D. N. C. 



CHAPTER XIII 
LATER YEARS 

The house which Mr. Camp erected on his coming to 
New Britain remained his home till the end of his life. 
The out-of-door interests which are reflected in his reminis- 
cences continued in his later years to occupy an important 
place in his activities, and the hours spent at manual work 
on his lawn and garden had a large part, without a doubt, 
in the prolongation of his vigor. 

With his daughter Emma, Mrs. Daniel O. Rogers, and 
her husband and children, living in the house beside him, 
and in later years with the home of his grandson, Paul 
Rogers, located between the two older houses, he was for 
many years the patriarch of a changing but united family 
group. The children had always been much in his house. 
After the death of his daughter Ellen, his granddaughters 
Gertrude and then Mary made their home in his house- 
hold. 

His ninetieth birthday was made memorable by thought- 
ful tributes from many organizations and friends. His 
associates in the Skinner Chuck Company gathered in 
his ofiice and presented a handsome umbrella to him 
with expressions of their good will. His fellow directors 
in the New Britain National Bank entertained him at 
dinner and after a graceful address by the president 
presented him with a beautiful watch and adopted the 
following resolutions: 

''Resolved: That on this third day of October, 1910, 
being the ninetieth birthday of our honored and beloved 
vice-president, David N. Camp, the directors of this bank 
record our hearty congratulations and the assurance of 
our esteem and affection, on his having attained to four 
score years and ten, with faculties unimpaired and with 
the good health that he now enjoys: that we assure him 
of our high appreciation of his long, faithful and valuable 
services which he has given to this bank as director, and 
especially of his intelligent and painstaking services for 

91 



92 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

thirty-six years as chairman of the auditing committee 
of this bank. 

"That we record with pride his varied and useful serv- 
ices to the city of New Britain in the several offices 
which he so capably filled, and for the example set by 
him of official integrity, and high and unselfish purpose in 
the conduct of city affairs. 

"That we further record with gratitude his services to 
the city and state as an educator, and especially his active 
and efficient work in promoting and firmly establishing 
the New Britain Institute. His labors in connection 
with this educational institution cannot be adequately 
measured and we congratulate him at this time on the 
successful realization of his many years of unselfish labor. 

"That we assure him of our earnest hope that he may 
live many years in the enjoyment of health and prosperity, 
to continue in the future as in the past, an example of 
useful Christian citizenship." 

The South Congregational Church adopted these reso- 
lutions, of which a handsomely engrossed copy was pre- 
sented to him. 

"Voted by the South Church at a special meeting Sun- 
day, October 2, 1910. 

"There are some private festivals that rise to the dig- 
nity of public occasions. Surely this may be said of the 
birthday of Prof. David N. Camp of our own church and 
city, who reaches to-morrow the completion of his nine- 
tieth year of age. 

"A citizen serving his community in many public ways 
and with unfailing fidelity, a business man of penetrating 
judgment and sterling honesty, a teacher who has perpet- 
uated his influence in the grateful memories of many 
pupils, a speaker and writer whose words always wed a 
true humanity with chasteness and dignity of style, a 
philanthropist giving time and energy and money to good 
works both in his own community and abroad, a church 
member whose conscientious devotion to all the interests 
of Christ's kingdom has been an asset which any church 
might well covet, and above all a Christian gentleman 
revered wherever his work has been done and loved 
wherever he is known — this is David N. Camp, our friend 
and saint. 



LATER YEARS 93 

"Inasmuch as he has been since 1854, a member of 
this church, and for nearly a full half-century has sat as a 
deacon on its official board, his happiness to-morrow de- 
serves a congratulatory word from the church he has so 
nobly served. 'Old age,' declares a French philosopher, 
'carries its own lamp.' Our friend living still with un- 
abated zeal and unquenched enthusiasm notably exem- 
plifies the truth of the saj^ing. And always the lamp 
which he carries is shedding its light upon others. In the 
picturesque words of Scripture he is still bringing forth 
fruit in old age; he is full of sap and green — and his fruit 
is the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace. 

"Accordingly the South Church of New Britain here- 
with by formal vote extends its deepest good wishes and 
heartiest congratulations to Deacon David N. Camp on 
the attainment of his ninetieth anniversary. Grateful for 
the beauty of his character and for his varied and contin- 
uous gifts to it and to the church at large it prays God that 
divine blessing rich and lasting may attend our senior 
saint through the further years of his pilgrimage; and not 
less earnestly does it pray that it may be consecrated to a 
worthy following of the lustrous example set forth in the 
life of our friend and fellow citizen." 

From the Missionary Society of Connecticut came a 
beautifully embellished copy of the following resolutions: 

"At a meeting of the Directors of the Missionary Society 
of Connecticut held December 6, 1910, the following reso- 
lution was unanimously adopted: 

"If there is anything that entitles one to the reverent 
admiration and gratitude of his fellow men it is decades 
of devotion to the things that are pure, and honorable, 
and of good report among men. 

"For more years than the life of most of us covers 
Deacon David N. Camp, our honored President, has been 
in the active service of the kingdom of God. Every up- 
building cause has shared in the generous outgivings of his 
sympathy, his energy, and his substance. He has been 
eminent in education, estimable in citizenship, progres- 
sive and consistent in reform, constant and prominent in 
the support, the exemplification and the spread of true 
religion ; a leader among the leaders of his community and 
state. 



94 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

"But we are especially impressed by the record of 
what he has been to the Missionary Society of Connecti- 
cut. For thirty-five years a director in the Society, and 
for ten years its President, his interest has never flagged, 
his sense of obligation has never been dimmed, his faith 
has never faltered; his clear vision and calm counsels 
have been our reliance, his generosity and patient atten- 
tion to details have been our inspiration, while his wis- 
dom, tact and graciousness many times have saved us 
from mistakes and from criticism perilous to the work 
we are seeking to advance. He has seen the Society grow 
from weakness, limited resources and meager plans to 
the wideness of outlook, the comprehensiveness of pro- 
gram, and the large endowment of the present time. 
Of all this development he has been a distinguished and 
influential part. 

"Standing now with the burden of four score and ten 
years on his shoulders, but with the heart of a youth and 
the soul of a warrior, erect, alert, virile, full of faith, hope, 
love and 'the spirit of a sound mind,' we congratulate 
him upon the long life God has given him, and the wide and 
conspicuous service God has helped him to render, and 
pray that he may be spared to be our leader for many 
more happy and fruitful years." 

Many friends added to the happiness of the day by 
their expressions of estimation and affection. 

While resigning, in his last years, a number of his ad- 
ministrative offices, he retained others till the time of his 
death. He kept unabated his interest in the affairs of 
his family and friends, in business, in public and political 
affairs, in the work of the church, and in anything con- 
nected with the advancement of God's kingdom. 

In the autumn of 1914 he had a serious attack of 
pneumonia. This left him weakened but active for two 
years more. After a few days of marked decline in 
strength he died peacefully on October nineteenth, 1916. 

Nothing illustrates more strikingly, perhaps, the pres- 
ervation into his very last years of the strength and qual- 
ity of his spirit, than two articles which he wrote during 
this period for publication. One was an essay which was 
submitted and won the prize in a contest conducted for 
its "Men and Religion" number in 1911 by the Congre- 



LATER YEARS 95 

gationalist. The other was a letter to the New Britain 
Herald written in 1913. 

The occasion for the latter was a public agitation of the 
question of engaging certain non-resident advisers for the 
city. His letter reviewed in vigorous language the deeds 
of civic loyalty which had marked the history of New 
Britain, leading up to the concluding plea that "wuth or 
without a commission" there be "union of effort and de- 
tennined purpose to secure the best things possible for 
the town and city." (New Britain Daily Herald, July 18, 
1913.) 

As a closing summary of the lessons of his life, could 
anything be more adequate than the essay which he sent 
in his ninety-second year to the Congregationalist? The 
question proposed was, "What makes the Christian 
religion worth while to any man?" This is Mr. Camp's 
answer : 



It is worth while because it gives its possessor an ever 
present and ever abiding confidence in eternal realities, 
which become an important influence affecting his whole life. 

In prosperity it makes him grateful for the blessings 
which come to him and more unselfish, ever seeking the 
good of others. 

In adversity it makes severe trials bearable, because its 
possessor has faith in an all-wise Providence, which lifts 
his thoughts from material trials and effects to everlasting 
promises of good. It broadens his views, enlarges his 
conceptions, and makes his life more fruitful to others 
and consequently more valuable and beneficial to himself. 

In business relations it gives its possessor a standard of 
action, based on truth and justice, which accepts no com- 
promises with wrong. 

In social relations it makes its possessor not only more 
lovable and companionable to others, but the reflex 
influence upon his own life enlarges his capacities for 
enjoyment and usefulness, because he unselfishly seeks 
the good of all. 



96 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

Engaged in teaching for more than forty years, and 
having direct personal responsibility in the education of 
more than four thousand students, other things being 
equal, I found the true possessors of the Christian relig- 
ion most faithful and reliable in their work, and the most 
successful in achievement. 

In circumstances which for more than half a century 
brought the writer in more or less close relations with 
persons in official position, he found those who were the 
true possessors of the Christian religion (not always mem- 
bers of the church) most courteous in manner and most 
faithful in the performance of official duties. 

These statements do not refer to the believers of any 
particular creed, or to members of any particular church 
or denomination, but to those persons who are not only 
believers in Christ and his teachings, but to those who are 
imbued with his spirit and are the sincere and consistent 
followers of his example. {The Congregationalist, Sept. 23, 
1911.) 



